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The meal deal served by the Benettons to minority investors in Autogrill SpA arrived cold.
The billionaire family has just agreed to sell its controlling stake in the motorway-restaurant operator to Swiss duty-free retailer Dufry AG in an ungenerous deal, gaining a position of influence in the combined business. That leaves fellow shareholders deprived of the takeover at a premium they were clearly expecting.
In January, Benetton holding company Edizione SpA restructured to focus on three core areas — the eponymous fashion empire, Autogrill, and the Atlantia SpA infrastructure business in which it holds a minority stake.
Since then the family has been busy defending these positions. When construction tycoon Florentino Perez made an approach to acquire Atlantia, Edizione teamed up with US buyout firm Blackstone Inc to make its own bid for full control.
In the deal with Dufry, Edizione is to sell its 50% holding in Autogrill in return for a 20%-25% stake in the Swiss company. The logic is clear enough: diversification, and exposure to a larger travel market for food and retail. Edizione clearly doesn’t want to cash out.
The stake swap is priced at the two companies’ three-month average
share prices just before Bloomberg News revealed deal talks in mid-April.
It’s consistent with what looks like a strategy to lessen the concentration of the Benettons’ wealth in Italy and pursue opportunities in businesses they’re familiar with, while being more open to partnerships along the way.
The family does get some compensation for surrendering control, judging by the proposed governance.
—Bloomberg