Autogrill shares up 8.5% on report of possible tie-up with Dufry (updated)
19/04/2022 16:37
(Recasts with Autogrill statement, adds details)
MILAN, April 19 (Reuters) - Italian motorway and airport
caterer Autogrill AGL.MI said it was exploring various
strategic options and was in talks with industry peers after
Bloomberg reported on a potential tie-up with Swiss duty-free
retailer Dufry DUFN.S .
Shares in Autogrill rose more than 10% on Tuesday afternoon,
after being automatically suspended from trading, after the
report said that Dufry was exploring a possible combination with
the Italian group.
The Milan-based caterer is 50.1% owned by the Benetton
family, which last week teamed up with U.S. investment fund
Blackstone BX.N to announce a multi-billion bid to buy out
infrastructure group Atlantia ATL.MI . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WC08F
In January the Benettons had said that Autogrill was among
strategic investments for the family. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2TT4UB
The possibility of a tie-up between Autogrill and Dufry also
surfaced in June last year. At that time, both the Italian
caterer and the Swiss group dismissed the idea of an alliance.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2OJ1EZ
($1 = 0.9266 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Giulia Segreti; editing by
Valentina Za and Keith Weir)
((Giulia.Segreti@tr.com; +39.06.80307714;))