Competition Commission identifies issues in Co-op/Thomas Cook deal
THE Competition Commission has announced that it is investigating four potential issues in the merger between Thomas Cook Group’ retail operations with those owned by the Co-operative Group and by Midlands Co-operative Society.
The commission has said that it is investigating whether the tie-up between the firms will lead to a “substantial lessening of competition”.
It said that it would look at whether a loss of rivalry in many local areas was likely to affect the sale of package holidays (include dynamic packages put together by agents). It is also investigating whether the tie up will lessen competition between tour operators for selling package holidays, and whether the deal will lead to the combined group favouring Thomas Cook holidays over other tour operators or if it will restrict access to Thomas Cook-owned packages to other agents.
The merger of the two co-operative organisations’ travel businesses with Thomas Cook was initially announced in October last year. The deal sees Thomas Cook take 70% of the shares in the joint venture, with the two Co-operative organisations taking the remaining 30%.
Thomas Cook has around 780 UK stores, whereas the Co-operative Group has around 360 and the Midlands Co-operative has 100.
The commission said that it would also look at a number of other issues, including the sale of flight-only or accommodation-only holiday deals and the sale of foreign currencies.
It will now begin interviews with both firms as well as other interested parties and is expected to report its findings on August 16.
If it judges that there is likely to be a substantial lessening of competition in certain areas, it can order remedies including the sale of certain stores.
