Muthoot Finance not interested in acquiring Thomas Cook India

The largest gold loan company by asset portfolio Muthoot Finance today said that it was not looking at buying out the troubled travel and money changer firm Thomas Cook India, which has been put on the block by its British parent.

"It is true that we were approached for Thomas Cook. But after due diligence, we decided not to follow it," Muthoot Finance managing director George Alexander Muthoot told PTI from Thiruvanathapuram.

Maintaining that the deal would have made perfect business fit for his company, he, however, parried queries on the reason for not going ahead with the deal.

A section of the media today had reported that many bidders including private equity like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Carlyle Group, Everstone Capital, TA Associates, and Actis, apart from Muthoot Finance had submitted bid yesterday, the last day for submission.

The other reported bidders also include England-based foreign exchange firm Travelex, Chinese travel and tourism firm HNA Group and the Hong Kong-based Bravia Capital.

When contacted by PTI, however, Thomas Cook said it would not react to market speculations nor would it reveal the names of the bidders.

Merchant banking firm Credit Suisse is advising Thomas Cook to carry out the deal.

The parent Thomas Cook had put its the 131-year-old India arm on block late last year, as part of its attempt at disposing off non-core assets and to cut the mountain of debt, by selling its entire 77.1 per cent stake.

Thomas Cook India was set up in 1881 and enjoys over 60 percent market share in the foreign exchange business in here.

Earlier in 2006, Thomas Cook Plc had sold its stake in Thomas Cook India to Dubai Financial, following a pullout by its two major shareholders--German airline Lufthansa and Karstadt. But two years later in 2008, it had bought back 54.9 percent stake from Dubai Financial for about Rs 950 crore and another 20 percent from open market.

Source: EconomicTimes