Thomas Cook completes acquisition of Kuoni's India business

Thomas Cook to get access to the usage of SOTC in perpetuity, Kuoni brand in India for a year and in Hong Kong for 5 years

Tour operator Thomas Cook has completed the acquisition of Kuoni's business in India. This will allow Thomas Cook to significantly expand its outbound and inbound travel business. 

The company announced the acquisition today after it received a nod from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to the transaction.

In August, Thomas Cook had announced Rs 535 crore-deal to acquire Kuoni's business in India and Hong Kong. The acquisition of Hong Kong unit was completed last month.

The purchase will allow Thomas Cook India Group the usage of the SOTC brand (including SITA) in perpetuity, the Kuoni brand in India for 12 months and in Hong Kong for five years. 

Madhavan Menon, managing director of Thomas Cook (India) said, “We have successfully completed the closure process for the acquisition of Kuoni Travel across India and Hong Kong;  this gives us significant synergies across the entire spectrum of travel services, including, inbound, meeting-incentive tours, outbound and domestic, as also corporate travel. As part of our strategic intent of a larger Asia play, we had taken the first step with our acquisition of Luxe Asia in Sri Lanka, and Kuoni Hong Kong is now a reiteration of our intent.”