Advent confirmed as Dufry's main shareholder - UPDATE

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Advent International and Areas confirm their investment in Dufry as Julian Diaz returns to the front line.

Private equity firm Advent International has confirmed the acquisition of Dufry, along with co-investors including Grupo Areas. The move concludes a sale that has been around two years in the making and marks a return to the operations side of the business for former Operadora de Aeroboutiques and Aldeasa senior executive Julian Diaz, who is named company ceo.

Juan Carlos Torres, a senior partner in Advent's Latin American group, is named president of Dufry (see details below).

DFNI/TRW understands the acquisition was made through a company called Sintres, in which Advent holds a 75% stake and Areas a 15% stake. According to the Spanish press, Areas and Advent have agreed a four-month period to look at ways of developing a closer association. If no agreement can be reached by the end of June, Areas can sell back its investment to Advent.

Torres said: "Dufry has a strong position in the travel-retail market through its global coverage, attractive airport locations, presence in emerging markets, long-term concession agreements and exclusive partnership arrangements with selected airports-all of which made it an appealing investment for us."

Ernest Bachrach, head of Advent's Latin American operations, added: "We see considerable growth potential for this sector, particularly in emerging markets, with increasing airport traffic, more disposable income for passengers, airport expansion projects and creation of additional space for retail in airports."

DFNI/TRW understands that the Dufry structure and most of the senior management will be kept in place for the next three months at least. But Advent, which has many years of experience investing in retail companies, is already taking a close look at Dufry's buying and operations with a view to making changes later this year.

With Dufry, the partners are taking control of a group with sales of SFr660m ($520m) in 2003. The Dufry business is among the most diverse of all the top travel retailers, both in the channels and the regions it covers. Aside from airport stores, it operates stores onboard cruiseships in the Caribbean (in joint venture with Colombian Emeralds), at cruise terminals, onboard ferries in the Baltic states and Greece, plus downtown stores in Italy, the CIS, Ivory Coast and Mexico. Its border duty-free business extends from Belarus and Georgia to Mexico and Nicaragua.

About Juan Carlos Torres

Torres is the senior partner in charge of Advent's investment activities in Mexico. He has 14 years of private equity experience and five years of senior management operating experience. Before joining Advent, he spent five years as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. He was previously president and ceo of Seapharm and founder of Pharmamar, which derived pharmaceutical agents from marine organisms.

Torres has led or co-led Advent's investments in 30 companies in several countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France and the US. Investments include Aeroboutiques de Mexico, Aeroplazas de Mexico, DolEx Dollar Express, Exhovasa, Inmobiliaria Fumisa, Impactos Frecuencia y Cobertura en Medios, Grupo Embotelladores del Sureste, Tecnologia Informatica Avanzada and Terminales Quimicos. He has also sponsored six other investments in the information technology services, pharmaceutical and retail sectors.

Torres received an MS in physics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and an MS in management from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

About Advent International

Advent International is one of the world's largest private equity firms, with $6bn in cumulative capital raised and offices in 13 countries across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Since its founding in 1984, Advent has invested in over 500 companies and has helped businesses raise $10bn through public equity and debt offerings. These include 130 IPOs on major stock exchanges worldwide. For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com.

About Areas

With revenue in excess of $625m and more than 7,000 employees, Areas is the leading provider of integrated traveller services in Spain. During its fiscal year 2002-2003, more than 150 million customers visited its network of 1,005 establishments. Areas, founded in 1968, currently operates two main business lines: catering and retail shops, covering the motorway, airport, railway station and shopping mall markets. For more information about Areas, visit www.areas.es.