Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook Group plc was a British global travel group. It was formed on 19 June
2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG (itself the successor to Thomas Cook & Son)
and MyTravel Group.[1] The group operated in two separate segments: a tour operator
and an airline. Thomas Cook went into compulsory liquidation on 23 September 2019.

By September 2019, Thomas Cook Group was "the most shorted company on the
London Stock Exchange,"[2] and reports began to emerge that the company was "in last
minute negotiations" with bondholders, in order to approve the Fosun takeover. Less
than a week later, Thomas Cook asked HM Government to fund a £200 million gap in
the company's finances to prevent the firm falling into administration.[3] The company
had by that point secured £900m in funding as part of a debt-for-equity swap, including
£450m from Fosun.[4]

Despite this, a late demand is reported to have emerged from the Group's funders,
including Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Halifax,[4] who insisted that the Group be
sufficiently recapitalised to ensure operations were protected through to January, when
bookings are traditionally quieter and liquidity would be challenging. This demand
meant the group needed an extra £200 million of funding to keep the company
operational.[4] These efforts did not succeed, with the UK Government Secretary of
State for Transport Grant Shapps rejecting any discussion of UK intervention.

A final failed attempt to prevent the Thomas Cook Group from administration took
place the evening of 22 September 2019. At around midnight on 23 September, airports
in the UK began to impound Thomas Cook aircraft upon arrival, citing "default in
payment of airport charges". Shortly after at 02:00 BST, the Civil Aviation Authority
announced that the Thomas Cook Group had entered administration and ceased
operations with immediate effect, leaving around 600,000 tourists overseas. The
collapse of the company marks the end of a brand name that had been in continuous use
since 1841.[5]
Refrences:

1. http://www.hotelnicolle.com/thomas-cook-key-dates/

2. https://www.cityam.com/thomas-cook-collapse-set-to-net-hedge-funds-
millions/

3. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49761464

4. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/19/thomas-cook-races-to-
raise-extra-200m-to-secure-rescue-deal

5. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/tours/history-of-thomas-cook/

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