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March 7, 2015

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Fosun’s 5% in Thomas Cook worth US$140m

Source: Agencies | March 7, 2015, Saturday | Print Edition

CHINA’S Fosun International has bought a 5 percent stake in Thomas Cook Group, deepening its foray into Europe’s tourism sector and potentially helping the British company to compete with travel titan TUI Group.

Fosun paid 91.9 million pounds (US$140.1 million) for the Thomas Cook stake and will seek to double its holding in the world’s oldest travel group to 10 percent, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.

Thomas Cook said in a statement that it expects the tie-up to enhance earnings in the financial year to September 30, 2016, assuming plans under the partnership are implemented in 2015.

One of the plans is to explore collaboration opportunities with Club Mediterranee, the French holiday company it bought last month, where Fosun is looking to turn around a business struggling in Europe and move more aggressively into fast-growing markets such as China.

“The investment in Thomas Cook complements other recent investments of the group in the sector, providing opportunities for further value creation,” Fosun Chairman Guo Guangchang said in the filing, adding that there is increasing demand for international leisure travel.

The president of Fosun’s tourism and commercial group, Qian Jiannong, said the group does not plan to use the investment as a first step toward acquiring Thomas Cook in its entirety.

Thomas Cook said the deal would help to accelerate its plans to develop more specialised hotels and aid expansion in China over the medium term as the pair develop hotel brands tailored to the Chinese market.

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