Dufry-owned Hudson Group plans Initial Public Offering in 2018

NORTH AMERICA. Dufry announced today that its wholly owned Hudson* subsidiary is planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2018, though Dufry intends to retain majority ownership.

On Tuesday, Hudson Group filed its registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed IPO of Hudson Ltd’s Class A common shares.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank are acting as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering.

In July, Dufry revealed plans for an IPO of its North American business. CEO Julían Díaz said at the time: “The [North American] business would remain an important component of Dufry’s global diversification strategy, and its operations would remain integrated with Dufry Group across all major functions, allowing the North American business to continue to benefit from Dufry’s expertise and scale in the global travel retail industry.”

He said the planned IPO reflects the different development of travel retail in North America compared to the rest of the world.

He also told investors that the company was looking to accelerate growth in the market by expanding its food & beverage operations through external acquisition.

*NOTE: Hudson Group, acquired by Dufry in 2008, is the largest travel retailer in North America. It operates over 950 Hudson, Hudson News, Hudson Booksellers, cafes, specialty retail and duty free shops in 83 airports and transportation terminals in the USA and Canada, and operates in 24 of the top 25 airports in the US. See www.hudsongroup.com

Dufry has been developing the Hudson brand within its North American base and in new territories
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