Freshfields, lovells lead on duty free deal

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Lovells have steered BAA's £546.6m sale of World Duty Free Europe Ltd (WDF) to Autogrill.

Freshfields represented BAA, which is selling WDF as part of its ongoing non-core asset disposal programme. WDF will enter into a 12-year concession agreement for the operation of duty free stores at BAA's seven UK airports.

WDF has 65 stores and annual sales of around £300m. The Freshfields team was led by corporate partner Laurie McFadden and included IP partner Richard Lister. The team worked closely with BAA general counsel Robert Herga.

Lovells acted for new client Autogrill with a team led by London corporate partner Steven Bryan.