Thomas Cook sells corporate travel unit
THOMAS Cook, the travel group, has made a third disposal in the region with a £13.5m sale of its UK corporate travel business.
Based in Altrincham, the UK corporate travel business trades as Co-operative Travel Management, and is part of the joint venture between Thomas Cook, Co-operative Group and Midlands Co-operative.
The deal follows the sale of Lancashire’s Gold Medal travel and Elegant resorts in Chester.
The business, based at Tabley Counry on Victoria Street, has 200 staff. It has been bought by Mawasem Travel & Tourism, the UK subsidiary of the Al Tayyar Group, the leading Middle Eastern owned global travel group which acquired Thomas Cook’s Elegant Resorts business earlier this year.
The transaction is expected to complete by the end of June 2014. No job losses are anticipated.
Harriet Green, chief executive of Thomas Cook Group, said: “This sale enables us to further intensify our focus on those key brands and products that are core to delivering our strategy for sustainable profitable growth. We wish Mawasem and the corporate travel team every success.”
Thomas Cook entered into a joint venture with Co-operative Group and Midlands Co-operative in October 2011, when the three parties merged their retail travel agency operations in the UK. Thomas Cook Group plc holds a 66.5% interest in the joint venture, with Co-operative Group holding 30% and Midlands Co-operative 3.5%.
Co-operative Travel Management contributed net revenues of £11m and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of £2m in the financial year ended 30 September 2013.
The corporate finance team at BDO advised Thomas Cook Group the deal. M&A partner Tim Clarke led the team at BDO in Leeds, with support from Sarah Cumming, James Croxen and Natasha Hartley.
Mr Clarke said: “The disposal of Co-operative Travel Management represents an excellent outcome for both parties; allowing Thomas Cook to continue to focus on its core consumer offering, while Al Tayyar Group further expands its international footprint.
“As globalisation speeds up and international trade becomes such a pivotal part of business growth, the corporate travel industry will reap the rewards.”
