Thomas Cook’s Chinese owners have sold the iconic brand to Poland’s eSky Group, just shy of five years since Cook collapsed after 178 years.
The deal ends Fosun Tourism Group’s bid to enter the mainstream UK market. Fosun, which also owns Club Med, was the largest single shareholder in Cook when it failed in September 2019. Several months later, in November 2019, after a rescue deal failed to materialise, Fosun paid around £11 million to acquire the Thomas Cook brand and assets and later relaunched it as an online travel agency.
Fosun has reportedly been looking for a buyer for some 18 months, with rumours of interest from eSky emerging earlier this year. The group owns a travel platform operating in central and eastern Europe. The company did not disclose the purchase price, but has pledged to maintain the Thomas Cook name as a standalone operation under current chief executive Alan French.
Lukasz Habaj, eSky Group co-founder and chief executive, said: “This acquisition is part of our strategy to diversify from just selling flights to offering package holidays across our existing markets in Europe and Latin America as well as expand further into Western Europe.”
Based in Katowice, eSky has more than 800 employees. Since 2022, the eSky Group has been part-owned by listed private equity company MCI. MCI previously invested in taxi firm Gett and payments company iZettle.
