Autogrill has a 12 year concession agreement at BAA's airports
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Airport operator BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, has sold its World Duty Free (WDF) shops to Italy's Autogrill for £546.6m ($1.10bn).
The sale is part of Ferrovial's programme of non-core sales to help pay off the debt it took on to buy BAA.
Autogrill is also buying the 49.95% it does not own in joint-venture Aldeasa, which also runs duty free shops, from Imperial Tobacco.
Autogrill says the purchases will make it the leading airport retail provider.
Imperial Tobacco bought the stake in Aldaesa as part of its acquisition of Spain's Altadis.
Ferrovial is in the process of restructuring the debt it took on to make its £10bn acquisition of BAA in 2006.
Boss leaving
The company is also facing a major inquiry by the competition commission over its ownership of UK airports.
There are World Duty Free shops in BAA's airports at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton.
Stephen Nelson, chief executive of BAA, is due to step down on 1 April.
Ferrovial reported a sharp fall in profits for 2007, but blamed it on the comparison with 2006, when it had sold Bristol Airport and a stake in the toll-road operator Europistas.
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