Dufry AG—a company whose name sounds like a mumbled description of the kinds of goods in which it trades—has agreed to acquire the Nuance Group in a bid to overtake Hong Kong’s DFS Group to become the world’s largest company in the travel retail space.
Basel-based Dufry, which operates airport duty-free shops and retail establishments in rail hubs, seaports and other tourist-heavy locales, announced Wednesday it would pay roughly $1.7 billion to buy Zurich-based rival Nuance from private equity firm PAI Partners and the Gecos unit of Italian retailer Gruppo Pam. And enough lawyers to fill an airport terminal have landed key roles on the transaction.
