POLAND. Polish competition watchdog UOKiK has approved Lagardère Travel Retail’s takeover of Inflight Service Poland Ltd, the operator of EuroShop retail outlets at Warsaw Modlin Airport.
UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection) said in a statement that “the implemented procedure showed that the transaction will not lead to limiting competition” in the Polish market.
The French group’s local subsidiary Lagardère Duty Free Ltd currently operates retail outlets at 12 airports in Poland. Last November, Lagardère signed an agreement with Inflight Service Group (ISG) to acquire its five outlets at Warsaw Modlin Airport, its duty free operations on Polish Unity Line ferries, as well as the assets of IFS Estonia, comprising three stores at Tallinn Airport and one store at a seaport.
“In total, the surface of the acquired retail stores is 300 sq. m.,” Dorota Karnkowska, the director for promotion and communication at Lagardère Travel Polska, told The Moodie Davitt Report.
The EuroShop outlets at Warsaw Modlin Airport include three stores within the terminal’s Schengen zone departures area, one outlet at its non-Schengen zone departures, and one store in the area between departures and arrivals.
The value of the Inflight Service Poland transaction has not been disclosed, but UOKiK’s decision clears the way for its finalisation in Poland.
Under Polish law, the institution’s approval is prerequisite to finalising all mergers and takeovers of Poland-based companies if the concerned entities reported aggregate revenues of at least €1 billion worldwide, or €50 million in the Polish market in the preceding year.
Located about 35 km northwest from the Polish capital, the airport is fitted with a retail space of about 1,026sq m. This means that its retail space represents about 7.7% of the terminal’s total surface, according to a report released by local market consultancy Pasazer.com.
In 2016, Warsaw Modlin Airport handled more than 2.86 million passengers.
