NEW DELHI: Travel services provider Thomas Cook India on Sunday said the sale of the company to China’s Fosun does not include regions of India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
“With regard to recent media reports pertaining to the sale of the Thomas Cook Global brand to Fosun of China, it is imperative to clarify that the reported sale of the Global Thomas Cook brand to Fosun of China does not include the regions of India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius,” Thomas Cook India chairman and managing director Madhavan Menon said in a statement.
The brand for these markets has been and continues to be protected for exclusive use by Thomas Cook India Ltd (TCIL) until November 2024 as per a brand licence agreement entered into in 2012 between Thomas Cook India”s promoters Fairfax Financial Holdings and erstwhile Thomas Cook Plc, the statement added.
Fosun Tourism, owner of Club Med, acquired the Thomas Cook brand for $14.2 million.
Fosun Tourism, which was seen as a potential saviour of Thomas Cook before it went bust, is also acquiring the Casa Cook and Cook’s Club hotel brands, BBC reports.
The hotels are aimed at individual travellers and young holidaymakers.
Speaking earlier about the brand acquisition, Fosun chairman Qian Jiannong stated: “The acquisition of the Thomas Cook brand will enable the group to expand its tourism business building on the extensive brand awareness of Thomas Cook and the robust growth momentum of Chinese outbound tourism.”
Fosun was the largest shareholder in Thomas Cook at the time it declared bankruptcy and had pledged to inject $580 million into the company as part of a $1.164 billion rescue deal with bondholders and banks, BCC further reports.
However, the plan collapsed after banks demanded an extra $260 million. That triggered Thomas Cook’s liquidation, which put thousands of jobs in jeopardy and led to the biggest peacetime repatriation of UK citizens as holidaymakers were brought home, according to the news channel.
