South Korea's Lotte Duty Free says looking at WDF, but no contacts

Hotel Shilla

25/11/2014 08:25

MILAN, Nov 25 (Reuters) - South Korea's Lotte Duty Free said 
on Tuesday it was casting an eye over assets including Italy's 
World Duty Free  WDF.MI  but there had been no meetings between 
the two, after a report about a possible tie-up boosted shares 
in the Italian travel retailer. 
    Italian daily Il Corriere Della Sera reported on Monday that 
World Duty Free (WDF) was sounding out Lotte Duty Free and Hotel 
Shilla  008770.KS  for a potential merger, pushing its shares 3 
percent higher. The stock rose further on Tuesday, gaining 0.9 
percent to 7.64 euros by 0814 GMT. 
    A spokesman for Lotte Duty Free said WDF was one of many 
assets it was looking at as part of its plan to become the 
world's third-largest duty free operator.  
    However, there have not been any meetings or official 
expression of interest on either side, the spokesman said.   
    A spokesman for Hotel Shilla's duty free business said it 
had not looked into WDF.    
    A source close to Italy's Benetton family, which owns a 50.1 
percent stake in WDF through holding company Edizione, told 
Reuters on Monday it was seeking a partner for the retailer and 
was willing to dilute its majority stake. 
    But a merger deal was premature given that the company only 
appointed new Chief Executive Eugenio Andrades this month and 
planned to present a new business plan by January, the source 
added.  ID:nL6N0TE1K9  
 
 (Reporting by Valentina Za and Joyce Lee; Editing by Mark 
Potter) 
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;)) 
 
Keywords: WDF M&A/LOTTEDUTYFREE