Elior expands in Spain and Mexico with bid for Latinoamericana

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Leading French airport and institutional food service company Elior announced today two major alliances and acquisitions taking it into new airport catering and duty-free markets in Spain and Mexico.

Elior has signed two strategic alliances in Spain. The company said in a statement it is taking a 36% stake in holding company Corporacion Areas and a 40% stake in the Areas operating company. This alliance will involve concession catering at airports, motorways, railway stations and inflight catering. Altogether Elior will have a 60% economic stake in the Areas group through direct and indirect interests. Key decisions will be taken by both partners and in mutual agreement, said Elior.

An agreement has also been made in principle with another Spanish company, Serunion to acquire 41% of its equity and this alliance will cover contract catering (for businesses, industry, education and healthcare facilities).

Elior said it plans to speed up its expansion into Spanish-speaking countries and Portugal and it will regroup its own airport restaurant concessions into Areas and its institutional catering into Serunion. Elior, via Areas, said it is launching a takeover bid for Latinoamericana Duty Free, the owner of 130 airport shops in Mexico with annual revenues of $81m. Elior's chief communication officer Jacques Suart told TRW: "Areas intends to launch an offer for Latinoamericana. At the moment it is an intention but the plan will become clearer in the next few days."

The company said in a statement: "The [Latinoamericana Duty Free] operation will further enhance the significant activities by Areas in shops located on freeways and at airports. This transaction represents a significant move in Areas' Latin American development strategy that will allow it and the Elior group to compete for the management of all airport commercial concessions in Europe and Latin America." The acquisitions and alliances are expected to boost Elior's international travel-retail sales to 40% of total sales.

• Elior is the leading contract food service provider in France and number three in Europe. In its two core businesses (travel-retail and institutional catering), Elior had sales for the year ended September 30 2000 of $1,611m. Elior has airport and other catering operations in France, UK, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Mexico.
  
  
• Areas is the leading contract food service provider in Spain, with locations mainly in motorway service stations, railway stations and shopping malls. In 2000, Areas had sales of  $211m with operations in Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Morocco.