Thomas Cook
 

It was announced yesterday that KarstadtQuelle AG has brought the 50% that Lufthansa owned in Thomas Cook AG, for €800 million.
The same time Lufthansa is increasing it's share in the airline Condor to 24.9%, which KarstadtQuelle can buy back in two years.
This might now make Thomas Cook the favourite in the sale of parts of the First Choice group.:ok:

Not really a new owner since KarstadtQuelle already own the other 50%. I believe that Thomas Cook own Condor hence Lufthansa used to own 50% of that too, but will now only have 24.9%. Lufthansa is set to acquire Condor's 50 % stake in Sun Express.

Thomas Cook UK MD is now CEO of Thomas Cook AG. First Choice may not be the only target.

beardy
Yes you are correct, l should have said New Controller of Thomas Cook as they used to share ownership.
Condor was owned by both companies and still is for at least two more years.
Lufthansa currently owns 10% of Condor, but had a very large say on the running of the airlines in the group.
Now that the airlines can get on with what is best for them and not what is best for Lufthansa.:ok:

Thomas Cook
 

Are Thomas Cook starting long haul flights from UK regional airports. Adverts have appeared in local press for HUY-Dominican Republic and DSA-Brazil

I noticed one in the Yorkshire Evening Post yesterday avertising Cuba direct from LBA this summer. The advert included the airport logo. Surely this is a mistake?:hmm:

Thomas Cook and MyTravel
 

BBC News announcing that these two tour operators to merge - Thomas Cook to have 52%. Subject to relevent regulatory approvals.

Thomas Cook and MyTravel to merge
 

Thomas Cook - My Travel merger announced on BBC in last couple of minutes if my ears don't deceive.

A little bit more:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...251132,00.html

First Choice were also in discussions with TC. The marriage is off.

And according to SKY, the new company is going to be 10% larger than you would expect!

"Thomas Cook will own 62% of the new company while MyTravel's shareholders will own the remaining 48%."

The rest of the holiday package industry had better watch out.:rolleyes: Mind you, if they bought First Choice, then their shareholders could have the other 35% of the company!

The BBC's article makes a little more sense:
here it is
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6353023.stm

MERGER OF MYTRAVEL GROUP PLC AND THOMAS COOK AG TO CREATE A LEADING INTERNATIONAL LEISURE TRAVEL COMPANY.

The boards of MyTravel and KarstadtQuelle are pleased to announce that they have agreed the terms of a recommended merger of MyTravel and Thomas Cook. The parent company of the Enlarged Group will be named Thomas Cook Group plc, headquartered in the UK and listed in London. The Merger is expected to create significant value for shareholders.
- The Enlarged Group will have leading positions in the UK & Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Benelux, France and Canada. The Enlarged Group will also benefit from a portfolio of excellent brands, an experienced management team with a proven track record and a diverse geographic spread, which together will provide a strong platform for growth.
- MyTravel and Thomas Cook believe that the annualised pre-tax cost benefits arising from a combination of the businesses will be at least £75 million per annum once the full benefits of the Merger are realised.
- The terms of the Merger will result in the Enlarged Group being 52 per cent. owned by KarstadtQuelle and 48 per cent. owned by the shareholders of MyTravel (calculated on a fully diluted basis).
- The Enlarged Group will be led by a board drawn from MyTravel, Thomas Cook and KarstadtQuelle, complemented by additional independent non-executive directors. The audit, remuneration and nomination committees will be chaired by independent non-executive directors. The Board will be independent of KarstadtQuelle and will include a strong and experienced executive management team.
- The Enlarged Group will be chaired by Thomas Middelhoff, CEO of KarstadtQuelle and Chairman of Thomas Cook, deputy chaired by Michael Beckett, Chairman of MyTravel, and managed on an interim basis by Joint Chief Executives Peter McHugh, Chief Executive of MyTravel, and Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook.
- The Merger will be effected through the acquisition by NewCo of both MyTravel and Thomas Cook (MyTravel by means of a scheme of arrangement). It is expected that the Merger will be completed by June 2007.
- The Merger is conditional on the approval of MyTravel Shareholders. Shareholder approval will be sought at the Court Meeting and the Extraordinary General Meeting to be convened in due course. The directors of MyTravel intend unanimously to recommend to MyTravel Shareholders that they vote in favour of the Merger, as they intend to do in relation to their own shareholdings.
- In addition, the Merger is conditional on, among other things, competition clearances and completion of the transaction between KarstadtQuelle and Lufthansa pursuant to which KarstadtQuelle has agreed to acquire the 50 per cent. of Thomas Cook which it does not already own, which is itself conditional only on EU anti-trust clearance and the approval of Lufthansa's Supervisory Board.
- As a result of agreeing the Merger, MyTravel and KarstadtQuelle have agreed not to pursue any competing transaction.
Commenting on today's announcement, Michael Beckett, Chairman of MyTravel said:
"This transaction gives MyTravel shareholders the opportunity to participate in the significant value creation being offered by industry consolidation. Thomas Cook is a household name and the joining of the two groups will create an even stronger force in this highly competitive market. The Enlarged Group, which will be based in the UK and listed in London, will benefit from a strong and independent board and an experienced executive team. The new team is committed to realising significant benefits for the shareholders of the Enlarged Group".
Thomas Middelhoff, CEO of KarstadtQuelle and Chairman of Thomas Cook said:
"We are delighted to see the merger of two such well established industry players which we are sure will achieve significant value creation for us as shareholders from this geographically diverse portfolio of companies. We look forward to being a long-term, committed investor in the Enlarged Group.
The Thomas Cook team is looking forward to building and growing the Enlarged Group together with the MyTravel team. The combined organisations will offer customers unrivalled choice and quality for their holiday and leisure time in all of the markets in which we operate."
This summary should be read in conjunction with the full terms of the following announcement. Appendix II contains definitions of certain terms used in this summary and the following announcement.
A meeting for analysts and investors will be held today at 9.00am for 9.30am at The Lincoln Centre, 18 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3ED.

More Accurately .....
Thomas Cook buys MyTravel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, February 12, 2007
By Tom Williams
Thomas Cook has bought MyTravel in a surprise 11th-hour deal which ends months of wrangling between Cook, MyTravel and First Choice and will create the UK’s biggest mainstream tour operator.
The Cook-MyTravel deal was signed in the early hours of this morning as Cook negotiations with First Choice over the sale of First Choice’s Mainstream Holidays division were still ongoing. Cook group chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa is thought to have called First Choice chief executive Peter Long shortly afterwards to inform him of the decision.
Under the terms of the deal Cook AG’s parent company KarstadtQuelle will get 52% of a new UK-based company listed on the London stock exchange. MyTravel shareholders will have 48% of the new company, which would be called Thomas Cook PLC.
KarstadtQuelle CEO and Cook chairman Thomas Middelhoff will chair the new group, while MyTravel chairman Michael Beckett will be deputy chairman. MyTravel chief executive Peter Mchugh will be joint chief executive with Fontenla-Novoa on an interim basis.
The merger will be completed by June of this year and will bring together MyTravel brands such as Airtours, shop chain Going Places and Direct Holidays with Cook brands, Thomas Cook Signature and Neilson.
MyTravel and Thomas Cook expect to save at least £75 million in costs each year once the merger is complete. Early indications are that this will involve job losses.
The move comes nearly three weeks after Thomas Cook denied it was considering a takeover of MyTravel. The group had insisted that it had not indicated at a City lunch that a deal with MyTravel was on the cards (TTG January 26).

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...251132,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6353023.stm

http://www.mytravelgroup.com/media/merger.pdf

To me, this merger makes sense on many different levels, and we've known for some time that the next round of industry consolidation between the package holiday companies was just around the corner. Keeping the Thomas Cook brand for both the airline, the tour operators (does this mean the end of the Airtours brand?) and the holiday shops was obvious given the well-known and respected brand of "Thomas Cook" compared to the fairly unknown moniker MyTravel. We should see a more healthy airline, operating fuller planes, getting rid of needless overlap etc. though it'll be interesting to see where planes will be based for S08, what the fleet with look like etc.

NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA,
CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DO SO

Might be worth removing the link to the mytravel.pdf document don't you think?

The OFT may well take a close look at this one on the grounds of concerns over an oligopoly position.
:ugh:

Oligopoly
 

Yup, I had to look it up as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly

So what happens to First Choice now??

:E They become Last Choice, I guess.

.. nothing my friend. The First Choice Board have just announced that they have terminated talks about the possible sale of Mainstream. One fact lost on the masses is that they never put the division up for sale. Once MYT approached with an offer they had to be seen jumping through the hoops as far as the City was concerned. I'm sure if the money was right it would have been sold, but the Management said from the start that FCH was in a position of strength and didn't need to do anything. This wasn't the case for the likes of MYT.
Regards
Relieved Airbus FO!

I think that the new company should be called "My Thomas".

:* :*

I take it then that this has effectively put the Kybosh on all recruitment for this year?:{

BR.

I would like to think that The Islander is correct that nothing will happen to First Choice. But what happened to the exit stategy that Peter Long had planned for himself? Everything is for sale - at the right price. Further rationalisation of the tour operating market is almost inevitable. I don't think the play is over yet - and what about those juicy delivery slots on the 787?
BC

PS Like the idea of My Thomas but what about Thomas Travel or My Cook?

Well I think it should be called either 'My Cook' or 'Thomas Travel'

Good luck with the merging of the seniority lists, chaps :uhoh:

The Islander said :I'm sure if the money was right it would have have been sold, but the Management said from the start that FCH was in a position of strength and didn't need to do anything. This wasn't the case for the likes of MYT.
????? the likes of Myt ??? Myt is in good health...no debt and a very streamline operation ! A merger makes sense for the industry..but you now say your a relieved F/o Islander...what happens to FCA now if they cant sell the short haul business as they are now the smallest of 3 major tour ops ? and the share price is down 40p !

Topflight, oh come on dont make me laugh, MYT had not made a profit until this year so how could they possible be in good health. An as for FC? well yes they are smaller compared with the new company but nothing changes, in fact it could be argued that with the forthcoming redundancies and slimming down of the new company FC could be in a better position as margins wont be quite so tight and less holidays overall in the market place. TCX has taken on a company and more importantly the directors who couldn't make a profit if it stared them in the face.

Just to clarify this is a merger not a buyout.

Would be nice if TC and MT could get it on and squeeze FC until the pips squeak!

Correct, this is a merger, TC are not taking over MYT.

Do you really think TC's banks and accountants would allow them to join with a lame duck.
MYT are a slick operation now; the best charter airline for OTP, lowest costs and are making money. More importantly they have a huge turnover, and profit making arms in North America and Scandinavia.
The fact that they have upto £1 billion for expansion burning a hole in their trousers shows how strong they are. Only now they have doubled their size without spending a penny.

Well said Duff Beer...westie, read Duffs post..spot on.

Didn't get past the first stage of the application Nearly Man?

The way i'm reading it the Thomas Cook brand will be retained, so My Travel Airways will be absorbed into Thomas Cook. Does that seem about right?

As far as I can tell from the initial press release, this is a merger, not a buyout, with Thomas Cook's parent company taking on a majority shareholding, with MyTravel's shareholders taking on the remaining part. The company is using the Thomas Cook brand because it is more established, so would imagine that this would extend to the airline and to the travel agencies.

Craps little helper, my vendeta runs a bit deeper than that!

Sounds a good move to me, Thomas Cook have been in need of an expansion, MYT have been scrapping along but slowly building.

Any idea when the deal will finally be sealed?

I think the initial press release stated that they intend for the deal to be sealed by June.

I thought that was the date when everything would be up and running, ie flying as TCX with the tcx livery on the aircraft etc.

Wont they be signing on the dotted line before then?

It needs regulatory approval, and this is not to happen untill end of June. Nothing is going to happen untill the autum at the earliest, and it will take about 2 years untill the companys are fully intergrated.

It is being called a merger, but most of the top management positions are to be taken by TCX managers, Karlstat is the majority share holder (52%) and the combined company is to be called Thomas Cook Group PLC. Read into that what you will, but it doesnt sound much like a merger to me. Also the share holders of MYT have had to give assurances of credit and bonding which TCX has demanded.

I get the feeling this summer is going to be a bad one for both airlines!

Jonty, please elaborate on why you think the summer is going to be bad for both airlines. You appear to have plucked that one out of thin air. Surely this summer is already cast in a tablet of stone and should run as planned. Maybe next summer will be a better one for TCX as they learn the MYT methods for excellent OTP and in flight service!! This summer though, will see very few, if any additional changes for either airline.