World Duty Free
| Company type | Società per azioni |
|---|---|
| BIT: WDF | |
| Industry | Retail, Consumer Services |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Gianmario Tondato da Ruos (Chairman) José María Palencia Saucedo (CEO) |
| Revenue | €2 billion (2012)[1] |
Number of employees | 8,500 |
| Website | www |
'World Duty Free SpA,the holding company of World Duty Free Group, is an Italy-based multinational travel retailer that operates over 550 stores and duty-free shops in 20 countries across 5 continents.[2] It sells a variety of products including liquor, skincare, fragrance, cosmetics, confectionery, food, tobacco, accessories and souvenirs and employs almost 8,500 people.[3] Since 1 October 2013, the company is a constituent of the FTSE MIB index with the ticker symbol WDF:IM.
History
World Duty Free Group was created after the Autogrill Group, the parent company, acquired and integrated the business lines of Aldeasa, World Duty Free and Alpha Group, which were complementary in terms of market segment and geographical regions.[4]
Beginnings
Aldeasa began retailing in Spanish airports in 1976.[5] Alpha Airport Shopping has had a presence in airports in the United Kingdom in different guises since the very early days of airport retailing in 1955,[6] while World Duty Free was founded by Heathrow Airport Holdings (BAA) to run tax and duty free operations in all its airports in the United Kingdom.
Expansion and consolidation
In the decade following the abolition of duty free within the EU in 1999, the three separate businesses, Aldeasa, Alpha and World Duty Free, were acquired by the Italian company Autogrill S.p.A. After acquiring Aldeasa (50% in 2005 and the remaining 50% in 2008) and World Duty Free (2008), Autogrill Group started a process to integrate them with the Alpha Group Travel Retail division (acquired in 2007).[7] This process led to the set up in 2011 of the new World Duty Free Group, which controlled all Autogrill Group’s Travel Retail and Duty Free business. The company became one global organization in 2011, formed of European airport retailers Aldeasa and WDF, and the experience in the industry dates back to the 1950s.[8]
On September 2013, Autogrill completed the transfer of the US Travel Retail Division from HMSHost and its subsidiaries to WDFG.[9]
Demerger On 6 June 2013, the Shareholders of Autogrill approved the project of proportional partial demerger whereby Autogrill S.p.A. transferred the Travel Retail and Duty Free business to its wholly owned subsidiary World Duty Free S.p.A. (parent company of World Duty Free Group), the beneficiary, by assigning to the latter the entire shareholding in the Group’s Travel Retail and Duty Free business.[9]
On 30 August 2013 World Duty Free S.p.A. filed an application for the listing of its ordinary shares on the Mercato Telematico Azionario (electronic stock market) organized and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A [10]
Listed company On 1 October 2013, World Duty Free has listed on the Borsa Italia in Milan, marking the culmination of the demerger process from parent group Autogrill.[9]
Location
World Duty Free Group is present in the European airport retail heartlands of Spain and United Kingdom, with a substantial international presence in the Middle East, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean.[11]
Notes
- ^ "World Duty Free Financials". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "World Duty Free Profile". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ "Business Channels". World Duty Free Group. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
- ^ |url=http://www.cate.mmu.ac.uk/research-and-consultancy/clients/%7C
- ^ |url=http://www.moodiereport.com/pdf/tmr_mac_06_6.pdf%7C
- ^ |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/alpha-airports-group-plc%7C
- ^ |url=http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m5123_20080516_20310_en.pdf%7C
- ^ |url=http://www.trbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11018:world-duty-free-group-launches-new-branding&catid=8:international&Itemid=13%7C
- ^ a b c |url=http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=AGL.MI%7C
- ^ |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/06/idUSnHUGd7yq+70+ONE20130606%7C
- ^ |url=http://www.worlddutyfreegroup.com/group/where-we-are/%7C
