Italian motorway menu serves the Benettons well
21/04/2022 09:26
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
By Ed Cropley
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The dynasty may
merge its Autogrill chain with $4 bln Swiss duty-free specialist
Dufry. Though slightly bigger, the latter is suffering the worse
Covid-19 hangover. Even though they’re surrendering control, the
Benettons would still have a strong hand to get a good deal.
Full view will be published shortly.
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CONTEXT NEWS
- Italy’s Benetton family is open to a deal to expand
Autogrill that would reduce its majority stake in the motorway
and airport caterer, Reuters reported on April 19.
- Bloomberg reported on April 19 that Autogrill was
contemplating a tie-up with Swiss duty-free retailer Dufry. In
response Autogrill said it was exploring “various strategic
options” as part of its growth strategy.
- “To this end, it is having talks with sector participants
to further promote the development of Autogrill,” it added.
Dufry declined to comment.
- Autogrill shares rose as much as 13.5% on April 19. Dufry
shares gained as much as 5.6%. They were down 4.7% and 2.1%
respectively by 0930 GMT on April 20.
(Editing by Neil Unmack, Streisand Neto and Oliver Taslic)
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