News: Top holiday companies to merge

Flights > News > # 1185 (12/02/2007)

Holiday companies MyTravel and Thomas Cook have announced they are to merge.



The deal comes after MyTravel returned to profit for the first time since 2001 in December. The parent company of the enlarged group will be named Thomas Cook Group.



MyTravel and Germany's KarstadtQuelle, which owns Thomas Cook, said the firm will operate in the UK, Scandinavia, Ireland, western Europe, and Canada. The merger is planned for completion by June.



MyTravel chairman, Michael Beckett, said: “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 will be 52% owned by KarstadtQuelle and 48% owned by the shareholders of MyTravel.



Thomas Cook chairman, Thomas Middelhoff, said: “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.”