Avolta

Last updated
Avolta AG
Formerly
  • Weitnauer (1865–2003)
  • Dufry (2003–2023)
Company type Public company
SIX:  AVOL
Industry Travel Retail
Founded1865;159 years ago (1865)
Headquarters Basel, Switzerland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Juan Carlos Torres Carretero (board chair)
Xavier Rossinyol (CEO)
Products Consumer Goods
Subsidiaries Hudson, World Duty Free, Nuance, Hellenic Duty Free Shops, Reg Staer, Duty Free Uruguay, Duty Free Argentina, Colombian Emeralds
Website avoltaworld.com

Avolta AG (until November 2023: Dufry AG) is a Swiss-based travel retailer which operates duty-free and duty-paid shops and convenience stores in airports, cruise lines, seaports, railway stations and central tourist areas. The company, headquartered in Basel, employs almost 36,000 people and operates in over 65 countries worldwide. It is publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Contents

Retail brands

The company's retail brands are:

In addition, Dufry is also used as a brand name for some general travel retail shops.[ citation needed ]

History

The company owns stores at airports, railway stations and ports, and operates concessions onboard airlines and cruise ships.

By August 2017, the Chinese HNA Group, which declared bankruptcy in 2021, had acquired a 20.92% stake in Avolta, worth more than $1 billion. [1] According to the Dutch OSINT platform Datenna, HNA Groups's stake in Avolta led to a medium risk of state influence on Avolta by the Chinese government. [2] HNA Group's airport division was acquired by Hainan Development Holdings on 24 December 2021. However, HNA reduced their share to 3% in 2019. [3]

On 24 October 2023, Dufry announced it was entering a strategic partnership with Hubei Airport Group, a Chinese based air transportation support company. The deal allows Dufry to operate as the Terminal 2 master concessionaire overseeing 77 shops at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, China’s fourteenth busiest airport. [4]

Dufry's name was changed to Avolta AG on 3 November 2023, after a 99.8% approval by shareholders during an Extraordinary General Meeting convened [5] following the takeover of Autogrill.

Milestones

Location

Some of the principal locations of the company are:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagardère Group</span> French media company

Lagardère S.A. is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. Based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the group was founded and created in 1992 by Jean-Luc Lagardère under the name Matra, Hachette & Lagardère.

Aer Rianta International cpt (ARI) is an airport and retail holding and management company, registered in Dublin and with its head office at Dublin Airport. ARI is a subsidiary of Ireland's state-owned DAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duty-free shop</span> Type of retail outlet

A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will then pay duties and taxes in their destination country. Which products can be sold duty-free vary by jurisdiction, as well as how they can be sold, and the process of calculating the duty or refunding the duty component.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMSHost</span> Operator of airport concession services

HMSHost is an American highway and airport food-service company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss company Dufry. As of 2014, Steve Johnson is the CEO of HMSHost.

Robert Warren Miller is an American-British billionaire, entrepreneur, co-founder of DFS, and sailing champion. He is the father of Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece, Princess Alexandra von Fürstenberg, and Pia Getty, dubbed by tabloids and high society as The Miller Sisters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Group</span> American travel retailer

Hudson, one of the largest travel retailers in North America, is a wholly owned subsidiary of international travel retailer Dufry AG of Basel. Based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, the company operates more than 970 Hudson, Hudson News, Hudson Booksellers, cafes, specialty retail and duty-free shops in 87 airports and transportation terminals in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autogrill</span> Italian company

Autogrill is an Italian-based, multinational catering company, which was controlled with a 50.1% stake by the Edizione Holding investment vehicle of the Benetton family. Over 90% of the company's business derives from outlets in airport terminals and motorway service areas.

The KontronGroup of enterprises is an IT consulting, products and services provider with its head office in Linz, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandro Benetton</span> Italian businessman

Alessandro Benetton is an Italian businessman.

Gategroup is a Swiss company providing services to the travel industry, including catering, onboard retail, food service provisioning, and food logistics. It serves as the parent company for four core brands, and is a supplier to many major airlines. Its head office is in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, near Zurich Airport.

Travelex International Limited is a foreign exchange company founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered in Peterborough. Its main businesses are foreign currency exchange, issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers, supplying central banks with foreign currency and global remittance. Travelex operates more than 1,100 stores and 900 ATMs in over 20 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellenic Duty Free Shops</span>

Hellenic Duty Free Shops SA, founded in 1979, is a Greek company in the travel retail industry. The company holds the exclusive right to the retail sale of duty-free goods in Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HNA Group</span> Chinese company

HNA Group Co., Ltd., was a Chinese conglomerate headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, China. Founded in 2000, it was involved in numerous industries including aviation, real estate, financial services, tourism, logistics, and more. It is the owner of Hainan Airlines and a part owner of Grand China Air.

Robert Benjamin Cohen was an American businessman and founder of Hudson News, a chain of Newsstands and stores located primarily in American airports and train stations. Cohen grew the Hudson News into the world's largest airport newsstand retailer from a single location he opened in LaGuardia Airport in 1987. The Hudson News chain is now part of the larger Hudson Group retailer. There are approximately 600 Hudson News locations throughout the United States, as of 2012. Most are located in transportation hubs, including a 1,000-square-foot store in Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Duty Free</span>

World Duty Free SpA, the holding company of World Duty Free Group, is an Italy-based multinational travel retailer that employs almost 8,500 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dubai Duty Free</span> Duty-free shop at Dubais international airports

Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the company responsible for duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos</span> Italian executive (born 1960)

Gianmario Tondato Da Ruos is an Italian executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DFS Group</span> Hong Kong luxury travel retailer

DFS Group (DFS) is a Hong Kong-based travel retailer of luxury products. Established in 1960, its network consists of over 420 locations, including duty-free stores in 12 major airports and 23 downtown Galleria stores, as well as affiliate and resort locations. It is privately held and majority owned by the luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), alongside DFS co-founder and shareholder Robert Warren Miller. As of January 11, 1997, DFS Group operates as a subsidiary of LVMH.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe & The Juice</span> Chain of juice bars and coffee shops

Joe & The Juice is a Danish chain of juice bars and coffee shops around the world. As of 2022 it has over 338 locations globally in Europe, Asia, and Australia with 64 locations in North America. The restaurants serve predominantly coffee, juice, and sandwiches. Their tunacado sandwich went viral in 2023.

Hudson News Distributors is one of the two largest companies in the field of magazine distribution in the United States. It is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

References

  1. "What's Behind HNA Group's Stake Increase in This Duty Free Retailer?". jingdaily.com. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  2. "HNA Group invested in Dufry". Datenna. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  3. Aiolfi, Sergio (2019-02-06). "Ende einer Geisterfahrt". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN   0376-6829 . Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  4. Davitt, Dermot (2023-10-24). "Dufry/Avolta strikes breakthrough master concessionaire joint venture with Hubei Airport Group in Wuhan". Moodie Davitt Report. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  5. 1 2 "Dufry shareholders approve the change of the company name to Avolta AG | Corporate - EQS News". www.eqs-news.com. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  6. "Transaktion – Dufry schliesst Übernahme von Autogrill ab". Finanz und Wirtschaft (in German). 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  7. "Dufry to buy rest of Hudson unit in $311 million deal". Reuters. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  8. "Dufry AG Announces Closing of Hudson Ltd.'s Initial Public Offering | Dufry". www.dufry.com. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  9. Ward, Carol (March 30, 2015). "Dufry To Acquire World Duty Free — Airport Revenue News (ARN)". www.airportrevenuenews.com. Airport Revenue News (ARN). Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. Mulier, Thomas; Roberts, Andrew (2014-06-04). "Dufry to Acquire Travel Retailer Nuance for $1.7 Billion". Bloomberg News . Archived from the original on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  11. Moodie, Martin (2004-02-09). "Advent International to acquire majority stake in Dufry". Moodie Davitt Report. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  12. Moodie, Martin (2003-10-07). "Farewell Weitnauer, welcome DUFRY. New identity for Swiss company as it focuses exclusively on retail business". Moodie Davitt Report. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  13. "Milestones & history". 2007-08-11. Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  14. "İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen Uluslararası Havalimanı'nın duty free işletmesi Dufry'nin". Anadolu Ajansı.
  15. "Dufry获得香港西九龙高铁免税经营权-看点快报". kuaibao.qq.com.