Dufry Acquires World Duty Free

Dufry AG (Basel, Switzerland) will acquire rival company World Duty Free SpA (Milan) for 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion), according to Bloomberg Business. Combined, the company will control about one-quarter of the airport retail market worldwide. Dufry has already purchased a 50.1 percent share in World Duty Free and the company said it will soon submit its offer to purchase the remainder of the company.

The deal, the largest in Dufry’s history, was executed by ceo Julian Diaz. Diaz has expanded Dufry through about a dozen acquisitions in the last decade. Dufry operates about 1650 stores in airports and other tourist locations in 60 countries. World Duty Free operates 495 stores in 19 countries and 98 airports worldwide. The two companies combined produced sales of more than $8 billion last year.