After yesterday’s rally, Autogrill today loses ground in Piazza Affari, showing a decline of about 5% compared to the + 12% recorded at the end. Yesterday the Italian group active in the sector of catering services for travelers ended up in the spotlight due to the rumors reported by Bloomberg about the potential aggregation of the Italian group with the Swiss Dufry. For its part, Autogrill has announced that it is interested in evaluating various strategic opportunities in the sector.
“With reference to press rumors, Autogrill informs that, as part of its growth strategy, the group is interested in evaluating various strategic opportunities and to this end it also has discussions with sector operators in the priority objective of promoting the development of Autogrill. and the pursuit of creating value for all stakeholders “, reads the note of the company controlled by Benettons. According to what is reported by “Il Sole 24 Ore”, which cites financial sources close to the dossier, the scheme on which we are thinking would be similar to the one then created on the occasion of the Essilor Luxottica transaction. Dufry, for the purposes of the integration, would buy Autogrill by paying in shares. Edition, as in the case of Delfin-Essilor, would confer the controlling stake of Autogrill, equal to 50.1% held through the newco Schematrentaquattro. “In this way, as a second step, the merger by incorporation of Autogrill into Dufry would take place”, reports the financial daily.
“A potential aggregation would have the advantage of creating a global sample that is very diversified geographically, by business lines and by channel”, comments Equita, which maintains the rating buy on Autogrill.