Avolta

{{Infobox company

| name = Avolta AG

| logo = Avolta Logo 2023.svg

| former_name = {{plainlist|

Weitnauer (1865–2003)
Dufry (2003–2023)

}}

| type = Public

| traded_as = {{SWX|AVOL}}

| area_served = Worldwide

| key_people = Juan Carlos Torres Carretero (board chair)
Xavier Rossinyol (CEO)

| industry = Travel retail

| products = Consumer Goods

| operating_income =

| subsid = Hudson, World Duty Free, Nuance, Hellenic Duty Free Shops, Reg Staer, Duty Free Uruguay, Duty Free Argentina, Colombian Emeralds

| foundation = {{Start date and age|1865}}

| location = Basel, Switzerland

| homepage = {{URL|https://www.avoltaworld.com/en|avoltaworld.com}}

}}

Avolta AG (until November 2023: Dufry AG) is a Swiss-based travel retailer which operates duty-free and duty-paid shops and convenience stores in airports, cruise lines, seaports, railway stations and central tourist areas. The company, headquartered in Basel, employs almost 75,000 people and operates in over 75 countries worldwide. It is publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Retail brands

The company's retail brands are:

Hudson
HMSHost
World Duty Free
Autogrill
{{Interlanguage link|Nuance Group|lt=|de|The Nuance Group|WD=}}
Hellenic Duty Free Shops
Reg Staer
Colombian Emeralds
Duty Free Uruguay
Duty Free Shop Argentina

In addition, Dufry is also used as a brand name for some general travel retail shops.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

History

The company owns stores at airports, railway stations and ports, and operates concessions onboard airlines and cruise ships.

By August 2017, the Chinese HNA Group, which declared bankruptcy in 2021, had acquired a 20.92% stake in Avolta, worth more than $1 billion.{{Cite web |title=What's Behind HNA Group's Stake Increase in This Duty Free Retailer? |url=https://jingdaily.com/posts/hna-group-added-stakes-in-dufry-shows-ambition-to-the-global-chinese-travelers |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=jingdaily.com}} According to the Dutch OSINT platform Datenna, HNA Groups's stake in Avolta led to a medium risk of state influence on Avolta by the Chinese government.{{Cite web |date=26 April 2017 |title=HNA Group invested in Dufry |url=https://visuals.datenna.com/china-eu-fdi-radar/?highlight=HNA%20Group_Dufry |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Datenna |language=en}} HNA Group's airport division was acquired by Hainan Development Holdings on 24 December 2021. However, HNA reduced their share to 3% in 2019.{{Cite news |last=Aiolfi |first=Sergio |date=2019-02-06 |title=Ende einer Geisterfahrt |url=https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/ende-einer-geisterfahrt-ld.1457875 |access-date=2024-04-18 |work=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |language=de-CH |issn=0376-6829}}

On 24 October 2023, Dufry announced it was entering a strategic partnership with Hubei Airport Group, a Chinese based air transportation support company. The deal allows Dufry to operate as the Terminal 2 master concessionaire overseeing 77 shops at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, China’s fourteenth busiest airport.{{Cite web |last=Davitt |first=Dermot |date=2023-10-24 |title=Dufry/Avolta strikes breakthrough master concessionaire joint venture with Hubei Airport Group in Wuhan |url=https://moodiedavittreport.com/dufry-avolta-strikes-breakthrough-master-concessionaire-joint-venture-with-hubei-airport-group-in-wuhan/ |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=Moodie Davitt Report |language=en-US}}

Dufry's name was changed to Avolta AG on 3 November 2023, after a 99.8% approval by shareholders during an Extraordinary General Meeting convened{{Cite web |title=Dufry shareholders approve the change of the company name to Avolta AG {{!}} Corporate - EQS News |date=2023-11-03 |url=https://www.eqs-news.com/news/corporate/dufry-shareholders-approve-the-change-of-the-company-name-to-avolta-ag/e8f4c7dc-7fb4-4939-8539-c2f9513e44e8_en |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.eqs-news.com}} following the takeover of Autogrill.

= Milestones =

2023: Name changed to Avolta AG after buying Italian-based restaurant chain Autogrill.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-06 |title=Transaktion – Dufry schliesst Übernahme von Autogrill ab |url=https://www.fuw.ch/dufry-schliesst-uebernahme-von-autogrill-ab-768947133042 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Finanz und Wirtschaft |language=de}}
2020: Hudson becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Dufry and is delisted from the NYSE.{{Cite news|date=2020-08-19|title=Dufry to buy rest of Hudson unit in $311 million deal|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hudson-m-a-dufry-idUSKCN25F0HE|access-date=2020-08-20}}
2019: Dufry acquires a 60% stake of RegStaer Vnukovo.
2018: Dufry's subsidiary Hudson Ltd. listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with its first trading day on February 1, 2018{{Cite web |title=Dufry AG Announces Closing of Hudson Ltd.'s Initial Public Offering {{!}} Dufry |url=https://www.dufry.com/en/press_release/2018-02-06/dufry-ag-announces-closing-hudson-ltds-initial-public-offering |access-date=2022-07-27 |website=www.dufry.com}}
2016: Renewal of existing concession contracts. Company is included in the Swiss Leader Index, compiled of the 30 largest Swiss Corporations listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
2015: Acquisition of World Duty Free{{cite news|last1=Ward|first1=Carol|title=Dufry To Acquire World Duty Free — Airport Revenue News (ARN)|url=https://www.airportrevenuenews.com/dufry-to-acquire-world-duty-free/|accessdate=13 June 2016|work=www.airportrevenuenews.com|publisher=Airport Revenue News (ARN)|date=March 30, 2015}}
2014: Acquisition of The Nuance Group{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-06-04/dufry-agrees-to-purchase-nuance-group-for-1-55-billion-francs|title=Dufry to Acquire Travel Retailer Nuance for $1.7 Billion|last1=Mulier|first1=Thomas|last2=Roberts|first2=Andrew|date=2014-06-04|website=Bloomberg News|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226103205/http://www.bloomberg.com:80/news/articles/2014-06-04/dufry-agrees-to-purchase-nuance-group-for-1-55-billion-francs |archive-date=2015-02-26 |access-date=2020-03-02}}
2012: Acquisition of 51% of joint venture with RegStaer Group in Russia. Acquisition of 51% of travel retail operations of Folli Follie Group in Greece
2011: Acquisitions of retail companies within Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Martinique and Armenia, involve 21 duty-free shops split between ten airports
2010: Merger of Dufry Ltd. with Dufry South America Ltd.
2008: Acquisition of US based travel retailer Hudson Group with 550 shops in 69 airports and transportation terminals in the United States and Canada.
2007: Acquisition of one of the main travel retail operator in the Caribbean based in Puerto Rico with 23 shops in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean locations.
2006: Initial Public Offering of Dufry South America Ltd. (DSA) in December. Trading of the shares on the Brazilian and Luxembourg stock exchanges. Acquisition of the Brazilian travel retailer Brasif and its logistic platform Eurotrade.
2005: Dufry becomes a publicly listed company – its shares being listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. Acquisition of the remaining 25% share capital from previous shareholders by a consortium led by Advent International Corporation. Change of logo / corporate design.
2004: Consortium led by Advent International Corporation acquires 75% of outstanding share capital of Dufry. Focusing of strategy on travel retail – divestment of wholesale and non-strategic activities as Weitnauer Distribution (February).{{Cite web |last=Moodie |first=Martin |date=2004-02-09 |title=Advent International to acquire majority stake in Dufry |url=https://moodiedavittreport.com/advent-international-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-dufry/ |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=Moodie Davitt Report |language=en-US}}
2003: Name changes to Dufry.{{Cite web |last=Moodie |first=Martin |date=2003-10-07 |title=Farewell Weitnauer, welcome DUFRY. New identity for Swiss company as it focuses exclusively on retail business |url=https://moodiedavittreport.com/farewell-weitnauer-welcome-dufry-new-identity-for-swiss-company-as-it-focuses-exclusively-on-retail-business/ |access-date=2024-02-28 |website=Moodie Davitt Report |language=en-US}}
1952: Start of duty-free retail business – opening of the first duty-free shop in continental Europe in Paris/Le Bourget.
1948: Start of duty-free wholesale business.
1865: Company founded as a retailer in Switzerland under the name of Weitnauer.{{Cite web |date=2007-08-11 |title=Milestones & history |url=http://www.dufry.com/abt-milestones.htm |access-date=2024-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811151717/http://www.dufry.com/abt-milestones.htm |archive-date=2007-08-11 |url-status=live }}