Autogrill expands its French motorway business channel still further

Milan, 5^th September 2005 - Autogrill S.p.A. (Milan: AGL IM) has acquired through Autogrill Côté France SAS 100% of the capital of Poitou-Charentes Restauration, which operates the service area of the same name on the Paris-Bordeaux section of the A10 motorway under a concession contract running until 2012. The structure will be integrated with the point of sale already operated by Autogrill in the same location.

With 70 employees and total annual revenues of around €5.5m, the entire Poitou-Charentes area is expected to generate accumulated sales in excess of €38m over the contract's residual duration of 7 years. The new site ranks fourth by sales amongst the 73 operated by Autogrill on French motorways, after Montelimar on the A7, Beaune on the A6 and Isardrome on the A7, as well as ranking tenth in the French network as a whole.

The location occupies a total surface area of 200,000 sq m on a section of motorway which, according to the French operator, carries 9 million vehicles a year. The site on which the Autogrill sign will soon be raised can be accessed from both directions by regular and heavy vehicles through a motorway underpass. It has a hotel, two cafés, two fast service restaurants, a restaurant with table service, a bar and a boutique, all in the same location, thus covering the needs of all types of travellers.

This operation consolidates Autogrill's motorway presence in the west of France and the A10 trunk route in particular. The Group, which has been active in France since 1993, now has food&beverage operations at 403 points of sale in 102 locations along motorways, in railway stations and at Marseilles airport. In 2004 in France, where the Group has 3,300 employees, Autogrill reported sales of over €208m.