Thomas Cook is returning to European hands, as its Chinese owner has agreed to sell it to a Polish group, five years after its bankruptcy.
Specifically, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun is selling the British travel company to eSky, a Polish company providing search engines and booking systems for airlines, for a total sum of up to £30 million (approximately €35 million), according to the official announcement. Fosun will retain the rights to the Thomas Cook brand in the Chinese market.
Thomas Cook, founded in 1841, went bankrupt in 2019 after failing to secure a £1.1 billion rescue deal, causing travel chaos worldwide and forcing the UK government to repatriate 150,000 stranded customers. Fosun acquired Thomas Cook later that year, paying £11 million for the brand and its intellectual property assets.
Fosun explained in a Hong Kong stock exchange announcement that “the online travel agency business in the UK does not align with the group’s core competencies and strategic focus,” justifying the decision to sell Thomas Cook.
With Fosun’s investment—having been Thomas Cook’s largest shareholder before its collapse—the British travel agent was relaunched in 2020 as an exclusively online holiday brand.
“eSky has expertise in flights, while we have extensive experience in hotel sourcing,” said Alan French, CEO of Thomas Cook, in an interview with the Financial Times. “Combining these two is clearly an opportunity as the package holiday business matures,” added French, who will continue to serve in his current role at the company.
Thomas Cook posted pre-tax losses of £3.6 million in 2023, significantly reduced from the previous year’s losses of £13.5 million. French emphasized that he expects the company to turn a profit this year.
