World Duty Free acquires three US concessions and enters German market

MILAN, Italy - The Board of Directors of World Duty Free (WDF), formerly Aldeasa, has approved the acquisition by its subsidiaries of three concessions to operate 45 stores, located in the Atlanta and Oakland airports and the Empire State Building in New York, from HMS Host Corporation and its subsidiary Host International Inc.

The agreed purchasing price agreed for these concessions is US$19m and the term of the operation is for over 5 years. The total price for the transfer of 100% of the concessions from HMSHost has amounted to US$124.3m.

With this purchase, WDF completes the transfer of assets from HMSHost in North America, which began in the context of its split from Autogrill, in line with the priorities set by the group its 2015-2017 optimization budget.

Following the transaction, WDF will operate 33 stores in the Atlanta airport, 12 in the Oakland airport and one store in the Empire State Building in New York.   

The combined turnover of these three concessions in 2014 exceeded 59 million dollars. Total pro-forma revenues from all the concessions in US amounted to 256.7 million dollars. 

EXPANSION PLAN    

WDF is expanding its business in the US, bringing the total number of stores to 249 stores located in 31 airports (including the five busiest) and two cultural locations (Houston Space Center and the Empire State Building). It is also introducing new retail concepts.   

The company recently announced its entry into the German market, with the opening of stores in the Düsseldorf Airport, the country’s third largest airport by passenger traffic, with about 21.8 million passengers per year and an average of 60,000 travelers arriving or departing on a daily basis.    

In 2012, WDF obtained the concession to develop six stores located in the Düsseldorf Airport’s three terminals (A, B and C), four Duty Free stores and two Concept stores over the course of 10 years.    

World Duty Free is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and operates over 490 stores in 19 countries and 102 destinations.

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