Ahead of a planned summer flotation, exclusively revealed by TRBusiness, duty free and travel retailer the Nuance Group has, today, reached an agreement to acquire from A.S. Watson Group its 50% stake of the Nuance-Watson joint ventures in Asia.

 

The joint ventures run DF&TR businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau and China but recently lost a key beauty concession to Shilla Duty Free at Singapore Changi Airport.

 

Upon completion of the transaction – which is subject to standard conditions says Nuance – the company will become the sole owner of the joint ventures. The cost of the acquisition was not disclosed.

 

Sales in Asia Pacific in 2013 were CHF 983.1m ($1,095m), some -26.4% less than in 2012. In 2012, Nuance-Watson had 50 stores at five locations occupying 9,600sq m of retail space.

 

Roberto Graziani (left), President & CEO of Nuance, comments: “Over the past year we have directed our efforts to search for new opportunities in Asia. This acquisition further strengthens our position in this important region, accelerating development and growth. We have enjoyed a long-standing partnership in Asia, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank A.S. Watson, for the collaboration and support throughout the past 16 years.”

 

A.S. Watson Group Managing Director Dominic Lai commented: “I appreciate the long-term partnership with TNG. The Nuance-Watson joint-venture has been strong and fruitful, and the co-operation with TNG has been a win-win partnership for many years.

 

“We see this deal as an opportunity for us to focus on our core retail operations, as we continue to expand rapidly in Asia and Europe to sustain and extend our leadership in health and beauty retail, as well as our diverse retail portfolio in Hong Kong, including also food, electronics and wine retail.”

 

With regional headquarters based in Hong Kong, Nuance operates 46 stores in Asia: at Hong Kong International, Singapore Changi, China Zhuhai airports, and The Venetian Macao. New stores are also opening in KLIA 2 in Malaysia and in Xiamen, China later this year.