Cox & Kings' Aussie arm acquires 2 firms

Cox & Kings (Australia), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Cox and Kings (India), a travel and tour company, has bought MyPlanet Australia and Bentours International through a share sale agreement from First Choice Holdings Australia. The acquisition is being done through an ‘earn-out mechanism’ and is not being paid for from funds raised for acquisition from the company’s recent initial public offering (IPO).

A company official said the ‘earn-out mechanism’ referred to any consideration to be paid to the selling shareholder, which may arise after the final audit of the balance sheet of the two companies is done. Any profit earned by the two companies will be paid back to the vendor, while in case of loss, the acquirer will take the hit on its books.

The senior executive refused to comment on the financial performance of the two acquired entities. Sunil Khandelwal, CFO, Cox & Kings (India), said: “The acquisition will give us a presence in wholesale and retail space besides a wider product range. It will also help in strengthening our Australian market.”

The business of the two acquired companies are trading under the brand MyBentours. In November last year, Cox & Kings (Australia) acquired Tempo Holidays, a well-known wholesaler in the Australian outbound travel market. The current acquisition will add to the product and retail distribution presence of Tempo Holidays.

First Choice Holdings Australia (the selling company) is a European tourism group, which is a part of the TUI Travel Plc Group of companies. Cox & Kings (India) launched its IPO last month and raised Rs 610 crore. Its shares got listed earlier this month, around 8 per cent lower than the issue price of Rs 330 per share.