Anex Tourism Holding has acquired almost 71,000,000 shares of the British Thomas Cook Group, RBC reported, citing British stock exchange data.
As the publication clarifies, the founder of the Anex Tourism holding, Neshet Kochkar, became the owner of 6,71% shares of Thomas Cook Group in late July. Earlier, on 26 On July 29, it became known that Neshet Kochkar acquired 4,76% shares, then on July 29, the package increased to 5,41%, and finally, on July 30, it reached 6,71%.
The deal had a positive impact on the British holding's shares: Thomas Cook Group shares rose on the London Stock Exchange by 4:30 PM Moscow time on Wednesday, reaching 6 British pounds per share at 36%. This brought the market capitalization of the entire Thomas Cook Group to over 137 million British pounds.
Moreover, as ATOR emphasizes, Anex Tourism could now become the third-largest shareholder in Thomas Cook Group. "Currently, the top shareholders are as follows: Fosun International (18% stake), Investco Ltd. (13.8%), and Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management (5%)," the Association noted.
Experts note that this move by Anex Tourism may be a response to strengthening Russia's stake in TUI Group. "It also represents an opportunity to influence Thomas Cook Group's tourism and financial flows. After all, as is well known, Anex has created a number of destination companies in European beach destinations. They need to be kept busy and developed. This is unlikely to impact the balance of power in the Russian market in the near future, but in the long term, it will certainly intensify competition among leading players in the mass tourism industry," leading tourism industry expert Igor Kozlov explained to a TRN correspondent.
As a reminder, in March of this year, the Russian tour operator Biblio-Globus officially announced its acquisition by the British tour operator Thomas Cook.
Source: trn-news.ru