MILAN (Reuters) – Italian motorway and airport caterer Autogrill said it was having talks with industry peers and reviewing its options after Bloomberg reported on a potential tie-up with Swiss duty-free retailer Dufry.
Shares in Autogrill rose more than 10% on Tuesday afternoon, having been automatically suspended from trading, after the report said that Dufry was exploring a possible combination with the Italian group.
The Milan-based caterer is 50.1% owned by the Benetton family, which last week teamed up with U.S. investment fund Blackstone to announce a multi-billion bid to buy out infrastructure group Atlantia.
“The group is interested in exploring various strategic options, and to this end it is having talks also with sector participants to further promote the development of Autogrill and create value for all stakeholders,” Autogrill said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from Dufry.
In January the Benettons had said that Autogrill was among strategic investments for the family.
The possibility of a tie-up between Autogrill and Dufry also surfaced in June last year. At that time, both the Italian caterer and the Swiss group dismissed the idea of an alliance.
($1 = 0.9266 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Giulia Segreti; editing by Valentina Za and Keith Weir)
