SINGAPORE, 10 September 2024: Polish eSky Group acquires one of the most recognisable names in travel — Thomas Cook.
The acquisition agreement signed with the Chinese Fosun Tourism Group will unlock significant growth opportunities for Thomas Cook and allow eSky to strengthen its position in Western Europe.
Thomas Cook, the oldest travel brand, confirmed it has been acquired by Polish eSky Group, owner of a leading travel platform in Central and Eastern Europe. The deal will provide Thomas Cook with access to eSky’s superior flight inventory and support its continued growth. This, in turn, will pave the way for eSky to enter one of the most developed markets in Western Europe.
eSky Group has become the dominant travel platform in the CEE region and has expanded worldwide over the years.
eSky and eDestinos brands operate in 50+ countries across Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Over 150 million customers access 550 airlines globally and 1.3 million hotels. eSky Group’s 2023 profits surpassed EUR 19 million — up 42% YoY and nearly three times the level of 2019.
“The synergy of Thomas Cook’s brand heritage with our technology will drive Thomas Cook’s growth and allow us to strengthen eSky’s position in Western Europe. This acquisition is part of our strategy to diversify from just selling flights to offering package holidays across our existing markets in Europe and Latin America and expand further into Western Europe,” says eSky Group CEO Łukasz Habaj.
“The completion of this transaction will inject significant funding into our business as we rebuild the brand and accelerate the growth of this company. By combining the strength of our dynamic packaging technology and holiday know-how with the flight inventory, performance marketing and technical strength of eSky, we are confident we will create a formidable European travel business,” adds Thomas Cook Tourism’s CEO Alan French.
Since 2022, eSky has been heavily investing in City Break and Holiday packages, which are a cornerstone of its business transformation from a flight platform into a Virtual Tour Operator. eSky Group has over 800 employees—including an in-house development team of over 190 people— and is part-owned by the listed private equity fund MCI.
Euro News reported that the Polish travel group eSky agreed to buy Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel brand, from its current Chinese owner, Fosun, for UKP30 million (EUR35.6 million).
“The online travel agency business in the UK…does not align with the core competencies and strategic focus of the group,” said Fosun in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The sale does not include Thomas Cook’s business in China.
Thomas Cook, a travel company founded in the UK in 1841, fell into insolvency in 2019 after failing to clear a debt burden of UKP1.1 billion.
The deal does not involve Thomas Cook India and affiliated companies in Asia, such as Asian Trails, headquartered in Thailand, with offices and registered affiliated companies in Southeast Asia.
The Thomas Cook collapse led to chaos in the travel industry and triggered the biggest peacetime repatriation in the UK’s history. The British government helped organise return trips for more than 150,000 holidaymakers who were stranded overseas.
Later, in 2019, the firm was acquired by its biggest shareholder, Chinese conglomerate Fosun, for UKP11 million (EUR13.06 million).
Thomas Cook was relaunched in 2020 as an online-only service, while UK competitor Hays Travel acquired about 550 of its physical outlets. Since then, the struggling travel company has been on the road to recovery, with CEO Alan French predicting a full-year profit for 2024.
In 2023, Thomas Cook recorded a pre-tax loss of UK3.6 million (EUR4.3m), down from last year’s UKP13.5 million (EUR16.0 million) loss.
(Source: news agencies and Euro News)
