It's too early to decide on brand acquisition, says Thomas Cook India

The company was awaiting clarity from the UK and would weigh all factors before taking any decision on acquisition

When London-based Thomas Cook Group UK collapsed under a pile of debt on Monday, investors beat down the shares of an unrelated company thousands of miles away in India, ignoring multiple clarifications that it isn’t in any way related to the UK firm.
 
Thomas Cook India resorted to a communication blitz in the past few days to clarify that the collapsed UK firm exited the Indian company seven years ago.
 

Even so, the stock fell 1.8 per cent to close at Rs 153.65 on the BSE. The UK firm's shares slumped 23 per cent on Friday, before it filed for insolvency.
 
Thomas Cook India, acquired from Thomas Cook UK by Fairfax Holdings in 2012,  pays a licence fee of Rs 2 crore to its former promoter to use the brand name in India and two other countries.
 
The company held a conference call with investors on Monday to clarify its separate ownership and that the closure of UK tour operator would have no impact on it. Madhavan Menon, chairman of Thomas Cook India, said: “The collapse of Thomas Cook UK opened up the possibility for us to acquire brand rights in three countries, but it is too early to take a decision.”
 
"We have two brands now — Thomas Cook and SOTC. The SOTC brand name will remain with us. We have a licence to use Thomas Cook brand name in India, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius till 2024," he said.