Thomas Cook stake sold to China conglomerate

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/06/thomas-cook-stake-sold-to-china-conglomerate

Version 0 of 1.

A Chinese investor has bought a 5% stake in British holiday group Thomas Cook for £92m as part of a broader expansion into Europe’s tourism sector.

Fosun International plans to double its initial investment in the package holiday specialist to 10% “over time”, Thomas Cook said in a statement.

Last month, the Chinese conglomerate bought French holiday company Club Med for €939m (£679) following a long takeover battle. Thomas Cook and Club Med are expected to work more closely together as a result of the new deal.

Thomas Cook shares rose by 13% to 137p in early trading.

Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook, said Fosun’s portfolio of travel investments would allow it to exploit new opportunities for growth abroad.

He said: “Our partnership with Fosun is aimed at accelerating our profitable growth strategy by allowing us to further develop ... in our core destination markets, to collaborate with Fosun’s other portfolio businesses particularly in France, and to access the world’s largest and fastest-growing tourism markets with an experienced local partner.”

Thomas Cook and Fosun will work together to capitalise on the Chinese domestic and international tourism market which is expanding rapidly as the middle classes in the world’s second-largest economy swell. The two companies also plan to jointly develop a hotel portfolio.

Wang Qunbin, executive director and president of Fosun, said its stake in Thomas Cook complemented its other recent investments in the travel sector.

He added: “Thomas Cook’s strong brand heritage and its leading position in the European travel market, together with Fosun’s extensive expertise and resources, will capitalise on the increasing demand for international leisure travel.”