British travel agency Thomas Cook has been acquired by a Polish tech firm, marking its return to Europe after spending four years under Chinese ownership.
The acquisition by eSky, a Katowice-headquartered search engine and reservation system provider for airlines, will see its current owner, Fosun, hand over all but the Chinese arm of the business for a reported £30m.
The Chinese conglomerate acquired Thomas Cook for £11m in 2019, a year after the company’s dramatic collapse, which left more than 150,000 travelers stranded and caused global travel disruption.
In 2020, Fosun relaunched the company as an online-only travel agency, aiming to rebuild the brand for the digital era.
Thomas Cook reported a pre-tax loss of £3.6m in its most recent full year results, a significant improvement from a pre-tax loss of £13.5m in 2022.
‘We will create a formidable European travel business’ – Thomas Cook boss
Łukasz Habaj, CEO of eSky Group, said: “The synergy of Thomas Cook’s brand heritage with our technology will drive Thomas Cook’s growth and allow us to strengthen eSky’s position in Western Europe.
“This acquisition is part of our strategy to diversify from just selling flights to offering package holidays across our existing markets in Europe and Latin America, as well as expand further into Western Europe.”
Thomas Cook CEO Alan French added: “The completion of this transaction will inject significant funding into our business as we rebuild the brand and accelerate the growth of this company.
“By combining the strength of our dynamic packaging technology and holiday know-how with the flight inventory, performance marketing and technical strength of eSky, we are confident we will create a formidable European travel business.”
ESky, which was founded in 2004, is one of the biggest names in European travel tech. In 2023 the company reported revenue of more than €800m (£675m) – an increase of 42 per cent year-on-year – with around 3.3m customers using its services.