Edizione – owned by Italy’s Benetton family – is expected to complete the transfer of its 50.3% stake in food & beverage giant Autogrill SpA to Dufry Group at the beginning of February, the global travel retailer has announced.

“All the required regulatory approvals related to the business transaction, including clearance from the relevant antitrust authorities, have been obtained without conditions,” confirmed Dufry in a statement.

As reported, Dufry will now launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining Autogrill shares.

Once the deal wraps up, Edizione is set to become the largest shareholder in the new entity with a stake of between 20-25% (subject to the results of the mandatory tender exchange offer).

The merger is tipped to generate CHF 13.6 billion in revenues (2019 pro-forma) and CHF 1.4 billion of EBITDA (2019 pro-forma, pre-IFRS 16).

Dufry CEO Xavier Rossinyol shared his thoughts on the company’s planned takeover of Autogrill in an exclusive video interview conducted on location during the TFWA World Exhibition & Conference in Cannes in October (click below to watch).

In December, Dufry announced it had successfully refinanced its main bank credit facilities

It added at the time that the combination with Autogrill was contributing positively to Dufry’s deleveraging progress.