Out of the ashes: Thomas Cook brand sold to Club Med
The BBC are reporting that the brand name of Thomas Cook has been bought by the Chinese owners of Club Med for £11m. They said: "Fosun Tourism, which was seen a potential saviour of Thomas Cook before it went bust, is also acquiring the Casa Cook and Cook's Club hotel brands.The hotels are aimed at individual travellers and young holidaymakers."
They reported that the Fosun's chairman Qian Jiannong, said the company "always believed in the brand value of Thomas Cook".He said: "The acquisition of the Thomas Cook brand will enable the group to expand its tourism business building on the extensive brand awareness of Thomas Cook and the robust growth momentum of Chinese outbound tourism."The BBC reported that Fosun was the largest shareholder in Thomas Cook and had pledged to inject £450m into the company as part of a £900m rescue deal with bondholders and banks.Thomas Cook collapsed when the banks called in loans wanting £200m to be invested.
A mad scramble by the firm in its final days in September to find the cash failed leaving thousands of customers stranded abroad. Hays Travel has bought the shops saving many jobs.One ICSM Credit member heard of the problems early and was able to get some of their £250,000 cash in before the collapse. ICSM's grapevine is its USP giving members advanced info on ailing firms.
For the full story visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50267453
Ian Carrotte of ICSM Credit said it showed a spectacular fall for the 178 year old firm. He said: "The administrators are trying to get whatever they can from the mess left by the directors. They had allowed the firm to get into debt by over stretching themselves. It's cost thousands of jobs, trashed people's holidays and left a trail of debts for firms and some sole traders. We have heard through our members that like Carillion it has had a massive knock on effect for businesses abroad and in this country."
For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers.
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