Travel major Thomas Cook India
backed by billionaire investor Prem Watsa Fairfax Financial Holdings has
acquired Swiss Tourism major Kuoni Travel business in India and Hong Kong for
Rs. 535 crore. Post the acquisition, both India and Hong Kong travel businesses
will become subsidiaries of Thomas Cook and would function independently.
The Kuoni brand is licensed to
Thomas Cook for one year in India and for five years in Hong Kong. All other
brands of Kuoni such as SOTC, SITA and Distant Frontiers are transferred with
the businesses. The acquisition is expected to help Thomas Cook to enhance its
offerings on inbound, outbound, and corporate travel. Brands of Kuoni,
especially SITA is strong in inbound offerings.
Kuoni was founded in 1906 and
entered India in 1997 by acquiring SOTC Tours, which was one of pioneers of
foreign tours in the country. Three years later, it took over SITA World Travels,
a specialist inbound tours. SITA is said to be the largest inbound tour
operators in India and with this acquisition, Thomas Cook can move up to the
top rank in the inbound market.
In January this year, Kuoni had
announced that it will exit its tour business in India and other parts of the
world to focus on its core business as a service provider to the travel
industry and governments, making it largely a B2B player. With the sale of its
tour operations in India and Hong Kong, the company has completed the sale of
its outbound business.
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