CVC Capital Partners, the buyout firm which owns a stake in rugby’s Six Nations Championship, is exploring a £6bn takeover bid for Avolta, the duty-free retail and travel catering giant.
Sky News has learnt that CVC is at the early stages of considering an offer for Avolta, which is headquartered and listed in Switzerland.
Any takeover proposal could be made in conjunction with the billionaire Benetton family, which holds a large minority stake in the company following the merger of Autogrill and Dufry in 2023.
Sources close to the situation said it was far from certain that CVC would make a formal approach to take Avolta private.
They added that it was also not clear whether members of the Benetton family would participate in any deal.
Alessandro Benetton, a former Autogrill board member, serves as Avolta’s honorary chairman.
Avolta’s global retail estate sells products made by many of the world’s best-known brands, including Apple, Clinique, Tag Heuer, and Lego.
It employs roughly 75,000 people and has a presence in 75 countries, comprising about 1,200 airports and numerous other travel locations.
CVC declined to comment, while Avolta did not respond to an enquiry from Sky News.
Shares in Avolta were trading at around CHF41.16 on Tuesday afternoon, giving the company a market capitalization of CHF5.94bn (£5.4bn).