GREAT BAY--Global travel retail company Avolta has acquired a 51% majority stake in Penha Duty Free Group, placing the longtime Caribbean retailer’s St. Maarten operations within one of the world’s largest travel retail networks.
The transaction, announced Friday, August 7, covers Penha’s network of 25 points of sale across St. Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and Grand Cayman. The company serves domestic and international customers through airport, cruise-related and downtown retail locations. Penha generated approximately CHF 47 million in revenue in 2025.
Avolta, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is a global travel retail and food and beverage company operating close to 5,100 outlets at approximately 1,000 locations in 70 countries. Its businesses operate in airports, seaports, cruise environments, railway stations, motorways and other travel locations, serving an estimated 2.5 billion passengers annually.
Avolta said the acquisition will strengthen its presence in Caribbean leisure destinations and add an established regional retail platform operating across several different channels. The transaction is being financed with cash already available on Avolta’s balance sheet and is expected to have a negligible effect on the group’s leverage.
The 51% acquisition is only the first stage of the arrangement. Avolta said the agreement includes a contractual pathway allowing it to eventually acquire 100% ownership of Penha Duty Free Group. No purchase price was disclosed in the announcement.
Penha is one of the Caribbean’s longstanding retail businesses. Founded in Curaçao in 1865, the company describes itself as the largest beauty retailer in the Caribbean and has built its business primarily around fragrances, cosmetics, skincare, liquor, accessories and other duty-free and luxury products. Until the Avolta transaction, Penha said the business had remained under ownership of the same family that established it more than 150 years ago.
Its flagship building on Curaçao’s Handelskade dates to 1708 and forms part of Willemstad’s historic architectural landscape. From those origins, Penha expanded across the Dutch Caribbean and other regional markets, including St. Maarten.
The acquisition therefore represents a significant ownership change for a Caribbean retail brand with more than a century and a half of history.
The Avolta group emerged under the Avolta identity following the combination and integration of major travel retail and food and beverage businesses, and today operates a portfolio spanning duty-free and duty-paid retail, convenience stores, restaurants and other travel-related concepts.
Avolta already has a substantial presence in the Caribbean. In July, the company announced an eight-year extension of its duty-free concession at Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba, continuing a relationship with that airport of more than 30 years.
The Penha acquisition gives Avolta a broader Caribbean platform outside of traditional airport-only retail. Penha’s operations include downtown stores and other locations serving both residents and visitors, something Avolta specifically identified as part of the value of the transaction. The Penha business also operates under long-term concession agreements, with a weighted average remaining duration of more than 10 years.
Travel retail publication TRBusiness reported that the acquisition further strengthens Avolta’s Caribbean position by adding Penha’s established multi-channel network to its portfolio.
No immediate changes to Penha’s St. Maarten stores, staffing, branding or day-to-day operations were announced as part of Friday’s transaction.
The acquisition nevertheless places Penha’s local operations within a global group with considerably greater purchasing scale, international brand relationships and a retail network extending across six continents. What that will eventually mean for Penha’s St. Maarten stores has not yet been detailed publicly.
