Lagardère to take over airport shops

Lagardère Travel Group (LTG), one of Europe’s largest retail airport operators, has signed an agreement with Inflight Services Group (IFS) which is set to give it control over duty-free and convenience shops currently run by IFS at some Polish airports. The deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval before going into effect, will see LTG take over five shops at Modlin, as well as duty-free shops on Polish Unity Line ferries and three stores at Tallinn Airport. The retailer said in a statement, “the deal is in line with LTG’s strategy of expanding in growth businesses and developing retail space in travel locations.” The CEO of Gategroup, which earlier this year had acquired IFS, Xavier Rossignal, had indicated that the group “was not contributing profitability...and was non-strategic.” This acquisition, which took place in February, opened the way for divestment of the operations. LTG currently owns 220 airport retail businesses in 17 European countries, including 11 stores in Poland.