POLAND. Lagardère Travel Retail and UK-based Costa Coffee have signed a deal under which the former company will take over the master franchise business that comprises 145 Costa Coffee outlets in Poland and Latvia.
“For the first time, Lagardère Travel Retail will directly manage the Costa Coffee chain in Poland, but the two companies have long cooperated,” the travel retailer said in a statement.
Their collaboration was initiated in 2008 in the Czech Republic where Lagardère Travel Retail currently operates a chain of 60 Costa Coffee cafés and 60 Costa Express vending machines.
Maciej Gajkowski, Managing Director of the foodservice segment at Lagardère Travel Retail in the region, said that the latest acquisition will enable the group to establish a foothold in Latvia.
“By entering the Latvian market, we are also gaining the possibility to further develop our presence in the travel retail sector in this country,” Gajkowski said.
The company’s track record in the Polish market was a crucial factor behind Lagardère Travel Retail’s decision to establish a foothold in another country in Eastern Europe in cooperation with the café chain, according to Gajkowski.
“Our operational excellence and long presence in Poland were of key importance for Costa Coffee’s decision to further continue our joint development,” he said. The takeover “will also allow us to double our activities in the foodservice segment, and become a privileged partner in the field of [business-to-business] relations, and also further develop our relations with consumers in both countries.”
Lagardère Travel Retail launched operations in the Polish market in 1997. The company said it currently manages more than 900 shops there under its three business lines: travel essentials, duty free and fashion and foodservice.
Lagardère Travel Retail’s Poland-based foodservice segment, which has been developed since 2004, consists of 53 So! Coffee cafés, nine Furore ice cream shops, and 33 locations at airports in Poland, according to the firm.
The value of the deal was not disclosed. Before it is finalised, the takeover must secure the regulatory approval of Poland’s competition watchdog UOKiK and the Competition Council of Latvia.
In addition to Poland and Latvia, other Eastern European countries in which Lagardère Travel Retail operates include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania.
