Thomas Cook yesterday became part of
the world's third largest travel group when then were involved
in a £550m takeover by C&N Touristic of Germany.
The move had been widely predicted
for some time, not least on this site only
a month ago. The future of the company has been unsure
since the Preussag takeover
of Thomson Holidays earlier this year.
Preussag and C&N are now the two
largest travel companies in Europe and have knocked Airtours,
who have also had their own
difficulties, into third spot.
Thomas Cook owns a number of well
known companies such as Neilson, Skiers World and JMC Holidays.
It was formed in 1841 by its eponymous founder who introduced
package holidays in the hope that people would become better
educated and stop drinking so much alcohol. In retrospect,
he would probably agree that this was not wholly successful.
