Cox & Kings sells adventure business for Rs 260 crore

Company has long term debt of around Rs 3200 crore and it plans to pare debt by about Rs 400-500 crore in the current fiscal

Tour operator Cox & Kings has sold its adventure tour business in Britain for 25.8 million pounds ( about Rs 260 crore) as a part of debt reduction measure.

Cox & Kings has long term debt of around Rs 3200 crore and it plans to pare debt by about Rs 400-500 crore in the current fiscal.

The company informed the stock exchange today that it has sold Explore Worldwide Limited to Hotelplan UK group. Explore Worldwide which is a specialist in adventure tours is a part of Holidaybreak which was acquired by Cox & Kings in 2011.

"The sale of this business helps us to further increase our focus on three key verticals - leisure, education and hybrid hotels (Meininger)," said Peter Kerkar, director, Cox & Kings.

Last June the company exited the camping business in Europe, selling the segment held by its subsidiary to French travel company Homair Vacances for about Rs 892 crore.

Cox & Kings acquired Holidaybreak in 2011 for about Rs 2,300 crore and the deal was funded with dollar debt valued around Rs 1,500 crore. A year later, Citi Venture Capital invested $140 million in Holidaybreak, which has two main business segments, education tours and camping.