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Paradies to be acquired by Lagardère Travel Retail to Form a Combined $800 million North American Airport Concessions Company

Atlanta, GA - August 11, 2015 - Paradies, the most awarded airport concessionaire in the US, announces the signing of an agreement to be acquired by Lagardère Travel Retail, a global leader in travel retail that operates in 150 airports across 30 countries through three divisions: Travel Essentials, Duty-free and Luxury, and Food Services. The closing of this transaction is subject to certain conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Voted "Best Overall Retailer" by the industry throughAirport Revenue News(ARN) for 20 consecutive years, industry leader Paradies will combine its operations with the existing North American operations of Lagardère Travel Retail to operate approximately 800 stores and restaurants in 99 airports across the US and Canada. Paradies' strong presence, particularly in the US, is highly complementary with that of Lagardère Travel Retail, which has a stronger presence in Canada and a number of US international airports. Together, the combined company will operate in most of the major North American airports, including all of the top ten: Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, New York-JFK, San Francisco, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Phoenix. 

Following the completion of the transaction, Gregg Paradies will serve as the President and CEO of the newly combined company and will be an investor. Gerry Savaria, current President and CEO for North America of Lagardère Travel Retail, will serve as his Deputy.

The transaction marks the culmination of Paradies' significant growth and continued evolution as the market leader in North America, particularly in the past five years with its expansion into the food and beverage segment and its partnership with Freeman Spogli & Co., a leading middle market private equity firm. Combining Lagardère Travel Retail in North America with Paradies will create a company of a significant size, with complementary concepts (combination of global brands and local concepts). 

"We at Paradies are very excited to join a company of Lagardère's reputation and international experience,"said Gregg Paradies, President and CEO of Paradies."Paradies and the Lagardère group share many similarities including our very strong family cultures. The combination of resources and experience will help accelerate our growth and competitiveness in this very dynamic industry. This investment is a tremendous compliment to our 4,000 associates, to our business partners, to our management and leadership team, and to Freeman Spogli & Co., who has been an excellent and very supportive partner during the last five years."

Dag Rasmussen, Chairman and CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail, added:"This acquisition transforms the presence of Lagardère Travel Retail in North America. It significantly strengthens our business and allows us to expand our concession portfolio and to develop relationships with our brand partners and suppliers. We are very pleased to welcome Gregg Paradies and all his employees to the Group. Together, we will aim to create a regional leader and break new ground." 

Paradies was advised by Barclays and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius provided legal representation. 

About Paradies

Providing first-class service to the traveling public for more than 50 years, Paradies is the most recognized concessionaire in the industry. Named Best Airport Retailer for the past 20 consecutive years by Airport Revenue News, the company operates over 550 retail and dining locations in more than 76 markets across the United States and Canada. Paradies partners with such brands as Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, CNBC News, Univision, PGA TOUR Shops, Brooks Brothers, PANDORA, Brighton Collectibles, EA SPORTS, Dylan's Candy Bar and SPANX. The company also operates several popular proprietary brands, including eSavvy, Say Si Bon!, KidZoo and TravelMart. For more information, please visit www.paradies-na.com, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter

About The Lagardère group

The Lagardère group is a global leader in content production and distribution whose powerful brands leverage its virtual and physical networks to attract and enjoy qualified audiences. It is structured around four business lines: Books and e-Books; Travel Retail; Press, Audiovisual, Digital and Advertising Sales Brokerage; Sports and Entertainment. Lagardère shares are listed on Euronext Paris.

www.lagardere.com

About Freeman Spogli & Co.

Freeman Spogli & Co. is a private equity firm dedicated exclusively to investing in and partnering with management in consumer-related and distribution companies in the United States.  Since its founding in 1983, Freeman Spogli has invested $3.4 billion in 51 portfolio companies with aggregate transaction value of $20 billion.  Freeman Spogli has offices in Los Angeles and New York.  For additional information, visit www.freemanspogli.com.

Contacts:

Paradies

Michael Pietryka

Director of Marketing

404-388-5819

Michael.pietryka@paradies-na.com

Lagardère Travel Retail

Frédéric Renault

+ 33 1 42 99 07 54

f.renault@lagardere-tr.com