Thomas Cook has signed an agreement with AlixPartners, Thomas Cook UK’s appointed Special Managers, to acquire the rights to the Thomas Cook brand in India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius for a one-time payment of GBP 1.5 million (approximately INR 139 Million).
TCIL was previously contracted to pay an annual brand licensing fee of INR 20 Million to TCUK till 2024 for the usage of the brand.
Thomas Cook (India) Limited has operated the Thomas Cook brand uninterrupted in India since 1881. In 2012 when TCIL was acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings of Canada, TCIL had entered into a brand Licence Agreement with Thomas Cook group the United Kingdom for the exclusive use of the brand name till 2024 across India, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius. The brand license agreement additionally gave TCIL the right of initial refusal to acquire the brand in the event of the Thomas Cook United Kingdom group going into liquidation before 2024.
Madhavan Menon, Chairman, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, said, “I am delighted that we’ve been able to sign an agreement to acquire the rights to the iconic Thomas Cook brand across India, Mauritius. The brand is one amongst the foremost respected names in the travel services house and one that we at Thomas Cook India have operated uninterrupted for 138 years since 1881.
In 2012 when TCIL was acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings of Canada, we had entered into a complete Licence Agreement with the erstwhile Thomas Cook group of the united kingdom to allow USA exclusive use of the brand till 2024 across India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius for an annual licensing fee of Rs. 20 Mn. so when this terribly attractive investment opportunity of complete ownership of the brand name across these markets, for a one-time payment of Rs. 139 Million came up, it truly was a chance we had to grab!
Our groups currently expect to continue to make on the wonderful heritage of Thomas Cook across India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius – to grow sustainable value for all our stakeholders in the years ahead.”
TCIL’s acquisition of the exclusive ownership of the Thomas Cook brand in these markets means:
- TCIL will currently use the iconic travel services brand name that they have operated for 138 years in India that enjoys high recall and robust brand equity.
- The agreement ensures complete use of rights in perpetuity and means TCIL will use the brand in perpetuity on a royalty-free basis
- This move by TCIL also prevents possible new entrants into these markets, using the brand name
In addition to Thomas Cook, the Thomas Cook India group operates leading B2C and B2B travel brands as well as SOTC, TCI, SITA, Asian Trails, Allied T Pro (ATP), Australian Tours Management (ATM), Desert Adventures, Luxe Asia, Kuoni Hong Kong, TC Travel, private Safaris East , Sterling Holidays and Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), with strategic investments in Ithaka by Travel Junkie Solutions.
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