USA. Listed North American travel retailer, Hudson Group (a Dufry company) has signed a deal to acquire assets related to the operation of Brookstone travel, entertainment and wellness stores in US airports from Apex Digital Inc.
The agreement covers 34 airport shops, of which 30 are currently open and operating. Of the 34 units, 33 are in airports where Hudson has existing operations.
The share price spiked today moving from a close of US$11.30 on Thursday night to a peak of US$12.21 at 11.30am (EST) this morning.
Hudson has also obtained the right to be the exclusive airport retailer operating Brookstone stores through a licence agreement with Bluestar Alliance, the owner of the Brookstone brand and trademarks.
Brookstone is an established American brand known for selling products in the travel, wellness, home and entertainment categories. As part of the deal, Hudson will have the exclusive right to sell selected Brookstone merchandise in its own travel convenience stores.
Hudson Group CEO Roger Fordyce said: “The addition of Brookstone to our already diverse portfolio of branded concepts further strengthens our retail offering and nicely complements our travel convenience business.”
At Bluestar Alliance, which owns and manages the Brookstone brand, CEO Joey Gabbay described Hudson as “the pre-eminent leader in the industry”. He said: “Hudson Group will now operate, manage and, most importantly, grow our Brookstone branded retail footprint in North America.”
Hudson Group, via the Hudson, Hudson News and Hudson Bookseller brands, operates over 1,000 duty paid and duty free stores in 89 locations, including airports, commuter terminals, hotels and key landmarks and tourist destinations in the US and Canada. The store concepts include travel essentials, convenience, bookstores, duty-free shops, branded speciality units, electronics stores, and quick-service F&B outlets.
