Cox & Kings sells education tour business in Europe for Rs 43 billion

The company has been downsizing its stake in Holidaybreak, which consists of education tours and Meininger hotels, over the past few years

Tour operator Cox & Kings has sold its education tour business in Europe to Midlothian Capital Partners for an enterprise valuation of Rs 43.8 billion.    

The education tours business came to Cox & Kings after it acquired UK-based Holidaybreak for Rs 23 billion in 2011. Cox & Kings owns a 51 per cent stake in the business and will receive around Rs 24 billion from the sale's proceeds. The funds will be used for paring debt.   

Over the past few years, the company has been downsizing its stake in Holidaybreak, which consists of education tours and Meininger hotels. In 2014, it sold the camping business in Europe.    

Commenting on the transaction, Peter Kerkar, group CEO of Cox & Kings, said, "Since our successful acquisition of Holidaybreak in 2011, the business, with the strategic direction of C&K, has scaled larger heights. Over the years, we have made efforts to maximise shareholder value by divesting some parts of the business, reduce debt and focus on high-growth, asset-light businesses. This is in-line with our stated policy of consistently unlocking value in the company and we shall aggressively continue to follow our stated policy."