Comments
After being around for nearly a century-and-a-half, travel services company Thomas Cook will get to know its true brand potential for the first time once a brand valuation exercise initiated by its investor Fairfax Financial Holdings is complete.
Canada-based Fairfax, which acquired a 75 per cent stake in the Indian business of Thomas Cook from its UK-based parent in 2012, is eyeing an increase in market penetration by leveraging the Thomas Cook brand.
Fairfax holds a 12-year licence for the travel brand in India.
The move follows similar brand valuation exercises done by the Tatas and Godrej Group. Fairfax has roped in Equitor Value Advisory, a professional brand valuation firm, to value Thomas Cook. Equitor had earlier worked on Tata Group’s brand valuation exercise.
“Fairfax Group wanted to understand what we have in the brand in India. The purpose was to value the brand financially and also exploit opportunities in terms of how to sell leisure and travel products and get better market reach and penetration. It is more of an internal reinforcement of how we can expand our presence in this market,” Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook India, told BusinessLine.
“Being a 148-year-old heritage brand we wanted to also figure out its recall in the Indian market.”
AcquisitionsBesides, the exercise is being carried out at a time when the company is on an acquisition spree. It has already bought the time share brand Sterling Holidays and the specialised human resources related services of Ikya Group. More acquisitions are not ruled out.
When other brands get added into the company fold, the parent brand gents strengthened and it also becomes easier for the company to raise funds in the future.
Besides, Fairfax may also want to sell the business once its licence gets over, for which a good valuation is imperative, say industry observers. Equitor says the exercise will also bring fresh value for Thomas Cook’s investors.
“We are now in the process of extracting the value of Thomas Cook. Since the licensing period is for 12 years, the Canadian firm which acquired the Indian business hopes to get fresh value for shareholders and once the numbers are ready, it will be reflected in the annual report of the company,” said Ramesh Jude Thomas, President & Chief Knowledge Officer, Equitor.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.