Thomas Cook’s biggest shareholder, Chinese firm Fosan, could be about to launch a bid for full control for the struggling UK travel group.
Sky News reports Fosun is in talks and eyeing making a bid, although there is no guarantee talks will lead to it making a concrete offer.
Any bid will likely not include Cook’s airline business due to EU ownership rules.
Fosun currently operates a Chinese joint venture with Thomas Cook which has been a success so far and it also owns the Club Med resort business.
Thomas Cook generated £7.4 billion in revenue last year, serving about 11 million customers.
However it is in deep trouble with urgent calls to sell off its airline business to improve liquidity.
The travel group has pivoted toward a strategy of higher yield owned hotels but that needs deep pockets to fund.
Its shares have plunged more than 85% in the past year while analysts at Citigroup said its shares were technically worthless.
