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Lufthansa sells Thomas Cook stake
Lufthansa has agreed to sell its half share of Thomas Cook AG to fellow 50% shareholder, German store group KarstadtQuelle, for £536 million (800m euros).
The deal is due to be finalised in the first quarter of 2007 and comes two weeks after Thomas Cook UK & Ireland boss Manny Fontenla-Novoa was made chairman and CEO of the German parent group.
KarstadtQuelle, Europe’s largest department store and mail order firm, said Thomas Cook AG’s 2006 profit is expected to come in at 170 million euros. Fontenla-Novoa will become a member of the management board responsible for tourism at KarstadtQuelle.
KarstadtQuelle chairman Thomas Middelhoff said: “This agreement gives Thomas Cook a degree of reliability in its planning that will be particularly important with a view to the forthcoming consolidation of the European travel markets and the further expansion of the internet as a sales channel.”
Thomas Cook has been tipped as a possible purchaser of the mainstream tour operating arm of rival First Choice along with MyTravel.
The deal came as KarstadtQuelle received a 800 million euros offer for a 49% interest in a real estate joint venture.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa is also to raise its shareholding in Thomas Cook’s German carrier Condor from 10% to 24.9%.
The airline’s chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said: “This decision is in continuation of our strategy of focusing on core buisness, consistently trimming the portfolio to concentrate on our core competencies and creating added value for the company.”
The leisure travel buisness requires targeted investment and clear focusing in view of forthcoming structural change and consolidation, he added.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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