UK's Thomas Cook Group Travel Company Along With Partner to Buy Russia's Biblio Globus
British travel company Thomas Cook Group along with its partner Ionic Invest announced on Friday its plans to buy Russian Biblio Globus tour operator
"Thomas Cook Group announces that it has agreed to enter into a joint venture agreement with Ionic Invest, to buy the tour operator of Biblio Globus, one of the largest tour operators in Russia. The joint venture, in which Thomas Cook intends to assume a 30% minority stake, will give Thomas Cook a leading position in a growing market, help to further diversify the Group's customer base, and enable it to secure additional flight capacity to support the future growth in its existing Russian business," the UK company said in a statement.
Ionic Invest is owned by the leading destination management company Sarpedon Travel, which is a long-time partner of Thomas Cook Group.
Biblio Globus is one of the biggest tour operators in Russia, with its gross assets expected to reach 40 million Pounds ($52 million) by October 2019.