Duty-free shops Zaventem sold to Lagardère

The duty-free shops of International Duty Free (IDF) at the Brussels airport will be acquired by the Lagardère group. The French group will pay 250 million to CNP, a Frère family vehicle.

Duty-free and Belgian chocolate

French travel retail specialist Lagardère will acquire the airport shop chain International Duty Free (IDF) for 250 million euros. The current owner is Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille (CNP). The chain consists of over thirty duty-free shops at Brussels Airport, two shops in the airport of Charleroi and the chocolate stores of The Belgian Chocolate House. IDF also has a boutique in Kenya.

IDF has been a staple of Brussels Airport since 1958: the group launched its first duty-free stores there under the name Belgian Sky Shops. The company now runs quite a few shops, selling everything from candy over watches to clothes. Most of those are named after a brand of their own, such as Fashion Studio and Precious Time, but there are also partnerships with MAC and Hugo Boss, among others.

Eight times the expected profits

Lagardère Travel Retail would be achieving a turnover of 5.3 billion euros with the acquisition, provided it’s approved by the competition watchdog. That would certainly reinforce its position as the second biggest player in the travel store field. In 2018, International Duty Free generated a turnover of 183 million euros.

Compagnie Nationale à Portefeuille (CNP) has owned IDF from the very beginning. NPM itself is an investment vehicle of the wealthy Frère family, who will receive eight times the expected EBITDA of the chain in 2020 as the acquisition price. IDF’s management team will remain on board after the takeover.

Lagardère’s intent is to get 7 million euros worth of synergy advantages from the acqusition by 2022. The travel retailer also intends to pursue chocolate with the help of The Belgian Chocolate House, which will most likely also be rolled out in other countries.