China's Fosun in talks to sell Thomas Cook to Poland's eSky - report

(Sharecast News) - China's Fosun Tourism Group is reportedly in advanced talks to sell Thomas Cook to Polish online travel agent eSky.

Sky News cited City sources as saying that talks with eSky - which is majority-owned by private equity firm MCI Capital - have been under way for some time, and could result in a deal in the coming weeks, although they cautioned that the discussions could yet fall apart.

If completed, Thomas Cook would change hands for the second time since its collapse in the autumn of 2019, when its insolvency left thousands of people jobless and many more holidaymakers needing to be repatriated from overseas vacations back to the UK by the government.

Fosun, which is part of the same conglomerate which owns Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, the Premier League club, built a big stake in Thomas Cook while it was a listed company.

After its collapse, it acquired the brand for just £11m, and subsequently relaunched Thomas Cook as an online travel agent. A large chunk of Thomas Cook's high street operations was subsequently sold to independently-owned Hays Travel.