Thomas Cook sells Chester-based Elegant Resorts
THOMAS Cook Group has sold its Cheshire-based luxury holidays brand Elegant Resorts to a Gulf-based company for £14.3m.
Based in Chester, where it employs around 100 people, Elegant Resorts has been snapped up by Al Tayyar, a global travel group based in Saudi Arabia.
Thomas Cook chief executive Harriet Green said: “The announcement is consistent with our strategy of rationalising our UK business.
“The sale of Elegant Resorts enables us to realise value from an asset that is not central to our business, allowing us to further focus on our key brands and products to drive our profitable growth strategy.
“We wish Al-Tayyar and the Elegant Resorts team well and look forward to exploring future areas of collaboration with Al-Tayyar.”
Thomas Cook said staff would be unaffected as a result of the sale. The group, which is going through a major transformation under Harriet Green, said it would make a a loss on disposal of £2m, principally arising from the write-off of goodwill recognised at the time of acquisition in 2008.
