Thai King Power to compete with Korea's Lotte, others in duty free auction

Lotte

08/05/2019 13:21

BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) - Thailand's King Power Duty Free
 KPDUT.UL  will go up against hospitality and retail giants such
as Korea's Lotte  004990.KS  and Thai mall-operator, Central
Group in an auction for a lucrative duty free concession from
the Airports of Thailand (AOT), a senior official said on
Wednesday. 
    "Today was the deadline to name joint venture partners," AOT
President, Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, told Reuters adding that
joint ventures required a Thai lead firm. 
    The announcement comes ahead of bidding date on May 22.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21G2GO 
    The duty-free business is a major beneficiary of a tourism
boom in Thailand, where arrivals exceeded 38 million people in
2018.
    Bidders include hotelier Minor International Pcl  MINT.BK 
and King Power Duty Free, Nithnai wrote in a Facebook post. 
    King Power Group, owner of the English Premier League's
Leicester City Football Club, currently holds the licence for
duty-free retail in Suvarnabhumi, the country's main
international airport.
    The existing duty-free licence is set to expire in 2020.
    Other groups include a venture between a unit of Thailand's
largest retailer, Central Group, with DFS Ventures Singapore,
and another between Korea's Hotel Lotte with Bangkok Airways Pcl
 BA.BK . 
    The third group includes Royal Orchid Hotel Thailand Pcl
 ROH.BK , Empire Asia Group, and a unit of travel retailer World
Duty Free Group, WDFG UK.
    AOT booked 16.7 billion baht ($526.2 million) from
concession revenue in its last fiscal year, 13.3 percent more
than a year earlier.
    Concession winners will be announced on May 31 and then put
to the AOT board for approval, Nitinai said.     
    The concession will begin on Sept. 28, 2020 and will expire
on March 31, 2031.
    

 (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng)
 ((chayut.setboonsarng@tr.com; +66854849033; Reuters Messaging:
chayut.setboonsarng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))