Poland’s eSky Group is negotiating the purchase of Britain’s most notorious online travel agency, Thomas Cook. The eSky Group – which is majority-owned by private equity firm MCI Capital – sells airline tickets and tour packages across Europe and around the world. It now aims to have a stronger presence in the UK. 

If rumours which have been circulating in the media since November 2023 are to be believed, talks have been underway for several months and could lead to a deal this winter. This would mean that Thomas Cook would change hands for the second time since its collapse in late 2019. Because of that, thousands of people lost their employment and a ton of holidaymakers had to be repatriated from their vacations overseas. 

The current owner of Thomas Cook, China’s Fosun Tourism Group, announced recently announced that several variants were being taken into account when it comes to the future of the famous travel agency. However, no further official information has been shared since then. 

Thomas Cook was founded nearly two centuries ago, in 1841. The brand took advantage of the rising demand for package holidays and quickly became the first company to provide such services. Thomas Cook is based in the UK, but also organises tours from Belgium and the Netherlands.

“The group entered into an equity transfer agreement with the Goldman Sachs Group in the Spring of 2023 to sell the Casa Cook and Cook’s Club […] aiming to optimise its business portfolio and focus resources on the development of the group’s core business,” according to Fosun’s report for the first half of 2023.

As Travel Weekly reports, Thomas Cook achieved an improvement in profitability in the first half of 2023 through optimising operational efficiency.

Image: Unsplash

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen