Following the Dufry acquisition of Nuance, Nuance President & CEO Roberto Graziani is leaving his post after a decade at the helm of the Zurich-based duty free and travel retailer.

 

In a statement from Nuance, Graziani – who will continue to support the company until the year-end to ensure a smooth transition – “has agreed with the new owners” to end his tenure.

 

Graziani (right) comments: “It has been a great honour for me to lead this company for the past 10 years, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my executive team and all Nuance employees, as well as our airport and brand partners, for their tremendous support and commitment during that remarkable journey. I am very proud of all the great things we were able to achieve together. Whatever my professional future will reserve for me, Nuance will always be at the heart of my journey.”

 

Julián Díaz (left), Dufry’s CEO, adds: “I would like to thank Roberto Graziani for his outstanding leadership and achievements during his tenure. Roberto and his team transformed Nuance and created a global organisation that is recognised unanimously in our industry. It is our responsibility to now continue to build on his remarkable legacy.”

 

Graziani was appointed as President & CEO of Nuance in 2004, after the company was acquired by GECOS and Stefanel, following the grounding of Swissair. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade at Nuance’s parent company, GECOS/Gruppo PAM, where as CFO he led the acquisition of Nuance in 2002.

 

In his current role, which he took on in 2004, Graziani has turned Nuance into a global player in travel retail, through a network of more than 350 stores spanning 66 locations and covering over 75,000sq m retail space across 19 countries and territories.

 

Sales and Ebitda have also increased substantially in recent years (see below). In the period from 2009 to 2013, Nuance recorded consolidated sales of CHF 1.85bn ($1.97bn) and Ebitda of CHF 70.7m ($75.2m), but by 2013, sales had reached CHF 2.1bn ($2.34bn) while Ebitda had almost doubled to CHF 131.2m ($139.6m).