Thomas Cook Group

Thomas Cook Group
Public
Traded as LSE: TCG
Industry Hospitality, tourism
Predecessor Thomas Cook & Son
Thomas Cook AG
MyTravel Group plc
Founded 2007
Headquarters Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England
Area served
 Global
Key people
 Frank Meysman (Chairman)
Peter Fankhauser (CEO)
Products Charter and scheduled passenger airlines, package holidays, cruise lines, hotels and resorts
Services Travel agencies
Revenue £8,588 million (2014)[1]
£323 million (2014)[1]
£(115) million (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 22,672 (2014)[1]
Subsidiaries Thomas Cook UK & Ireland
Website www.thomascookgroup.com

Thomas Cook Group plc is a British global travel company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was formed on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG, itself the successor to Thomas Cook & Son, and MyTravel Group plc. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

At the time of the merger, 52% of the shares in the new company were held by the German mail-order and department store company Arcandor (the former owner of Thomas Cook AG) and 48% owned by the shareholders of MyTravel Group. Arcandor filed for bankruptcy in June 2009,[2] and its shares in Thomas Cook were sold in September 2009.[3]

The group owns a number of tour operators, as well as charter airlines based in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Scandinavia. Thomas Cook also owns the scheduled airline Condor and booking website Hotels4u.

History

Formation

In February 2007, it was announced that the Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group plc were to merge. The companies announced they expected to make savings of over £75 million a year, following the integration of both businesses. Under the terms of the merger, the owners of Thomas Cook AG, KarstadtQuelle (later Arcandor), owned 52% of the new group. The shareholders of MyTravel Group owned the remaining 48% share.[4] The merger was completed in June 2007,[5] and took place through the formation of 'NewCo' which effectively purchased MyTravel and Thomas Cook and was then listed on the London Stock Exchange under the name of Thomas Cook Group plc.[6]

2000s

On 14 February 2008, Thomas Cook bought booking website Hotels4U.com for £21.8 million.[7] On 6 March 2008, the company bought back its licence to operate the Thomas Cook brand in the Middle East and Asia from the Dubai Investment Group for an amount estimated to be around 249 million euros.[8] In April 2008 Thomas Cook bought the luxury travel firm Elegant Resorts from its founders Geoff Moss and Barbara Catchpole for an undisclosed figure.[9] The company took over Preston-based Gold Medal International, owner of NetFlights, in a deal worth £87 million in December 2008.[10]

On 8 March 2009 Thomas Cook signed a deal with Octopus Media Technology to host, upload, and provide an online video player for Thomas Cook TV.[11] In Spring 2009 Thomas Cook UK signed a deal with International Entertainment Supplier The E3 Group, to exclusively supply entertainment to the group.[12]

In June 2009, Thomas Cook's majority shareholder Arcandor filed for bankruptcy, although the group was not affected.[2] Arcandor's shares in Thomas Cook were sold by its creditor banks in September 2009.[3]

In July 2010, Thomas Cook Group bought German tourism company Öger Tours, which was owned by Vural Öger.[13]

A Thomas Cook travel agency in Leeds, West Yorkshire showing the old logo.
A Thomas Cook travel agency with current logos in Cross Gates, Leeds.

It was announced on 8 October 2010 that Thomas Cook Group was to merge its branch network with that of The Co-operative Travel to create the UK's largest travel network. The deal will see the new network 70%-owned by Thomas Cook and 30%-owned by Co-operative Travel.[14] Thomas Cook's Going Places branded branches were rebranded under the Co-operative's brand.[15]

On 22 November 2011, Thomas Cook shares lost about three quarters of their value on the London Stock Exchange after the company announced it was in talks with its banks about increasing borrowing by some £100 million but the shares recovered somewhat the following day. There were also reports that the company was planning to close 200 of its 1,200 travel agencies and foreign exchange offices.[16]

In May 2012, Harriet Green was appointed as the chief executive officer of Thomas Cook Group,[17] succeeding Manny Fontenla-Novoa who was CEO from 2003 until August 2011. On 1 July 2013, Thomas Cook announced that it would cease publishing the Thomas Cook European Timetable, along with closure of the rest of its publishing business. The final edition of the timetable was published in August 2013.[18]

On 26 November 2014, it was announced that Green was leaving with immediate effect, and that Peter Fankhauser, the COO would take over as CEO.[19]

Ownership

Thomas Cook Group plc's three major shareholders as of October 2013 were Invesco (11.9%), Marathon Asset Management (4.12%) and Kames Capital (3.14%). The remainder of the stock floats freely.[20]

Operations

An Airbus A321 of Thomas Cook Airlines lands at Bristol Airport in 2014

Thomas Cook Group operates in five main divisions, UK, Central Europe, German airlines, West Europe and Northern Europe.[21]

With a joint fleet, at merger, of 97 aircraft, 2,926 stores, 32,722 employees, and over 19.1 million annual customers, the new group became the second largest travel company in Europe and the UK, behind TUI Travel.[22]

The refusal by Thomas Cook to pay statutory EU compensation to customers who have been cancelled or delayed, means that there is a substantial liability accruing on the Airline's balance sheet. Although it is a criminal offence not to pay this compensation, the company is actively pursing this liability as a deliberate policy choice.

Sponsorship

Thomas Cook has been a main sponsor of Manchester City and Peterborough United football clubs. On 22 May 2009, Manchester City announced that the six-year partnership with Thomas Cook would conclude at the end of the 2008/09 Premier League Season.[23]

Thomas Cook was a sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games. As one of the UK's biggest and most popular providers of package holidays, Thomas Cook was appointed to provide "affordable and accessible" holidays and accommodation throughout the games.[24]

Thomas cook refuses to pay passengers statutory EU compensation for delays and cancellations. This is a criminal offence, but the company policy is set in this regard and it defends such claims from customers.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Thomas Cook Group. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Germany's Arcandor in bankruptcy". BBC News. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Scuffham, Matt (9 September 2009). "Arcandor banks launch Thomas Cook share placement". Reuters. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "MyTravel and Thomas Cook merging". BBC News. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "Annual Report & Accounts 2007" (PDF). Thomas Cook Group. 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "UK High Court backs MyTravel, Thomas Cook merger". Forbes. 18 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  7. ↑ Angela Monaghan (14 February 2008). "Thomas Cook buys travel website hotels4U". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Thomas Cook Group buys businesses in India and Middle East". travelweekly. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Thomas Cook buys Elegant Resorts" BBC News 7 April 2008
  10. ↑ Thomas Cook buys Gold Medal International Manchester Evening News, 18 December 2008
  11. ↑ Tentacles everywhere UKTI Article
  12. ↑ E3 Group expands into stage schools franchise market
  13. ↑ Thomas Cook acquires Turkish travel specialist Öger Tours Hürriyet Daily News, 7 December 2010
  14. ↑ Landmark deal to create the UK’s largest travel retail network (retrieved 8 October 2010)
  15. ↑ Eleftheriou-Smith, Loulla-Mae (21 July 2011). "Thomas Cook and Co-operative merger given provisional go ahead". Marketing Magazine. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "Thomas Cook shares bounce back after Tuesday's plunge". BBC News. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "Thomas Cook appoints Harriet Green as chief executive". BBC News. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  18. ↑ Calder, Simon (1 July 2013). "Thomas Cook's European Rail timetable reaches end of the line". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  19. ↑ Farrell, Sean (26 November 2014). "Thomas Cook shares crash amid shock departure of Harriet Green". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Major Shareholders". Hemscott. 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  21. ↑ "Leveraging best practice across our geographic businesses". Thomas Cook Group. 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  22. ↑ Top 50 Public sales: ATOL Holders
  23. ↑ "Fond farewell to Thomas Cook". Manchester City F.C. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  24. ↑ London 2012 Olympics: 200,000 spare tickets still to be sold The Telegraph, 16 July 2012

External links