NEWS CARIBTOURS AWARDS:
Caribtours celebrated its 40th anniversary and honoured top agent partners at its annual gala awards dinner. Managing director Paul Cleary and head of sales Rebecca Bryson presented 17 awards at the event at Claridge’s in London. Among the winners were Travel Stop, honoured for the highest increase in sales; Designer Travel, which picked up the chairman’s award for outstanding support; and Travel Counsellors, named travel agent of the year. Pictured from left: Paul Cleary, Caribtours; Jackie Steadman, TravelTime World; former British tennis player Annabel Croft, Annabel Croft Holidays; Mel Coleman, also Annabel Croft Holidays; and Angela Visciano, TravelTime World.
Cook gains more time to negotiate rescue package
Amie Keeley
Tomas Cook moved a step closer to securing a £1.1 billion rescue deal this week aſter gaining more time to negotiate with lenders. Te travel group
confirmed a meeting to vote on the terms of its takeover has been pushed back until next week, days before its Atol licence is due for renewal. A vote had been due this week but
Cook’s creditors are set to take
key votes on September 27 and 30. Its Atol is due for renewal on October 1. Alan Bowen, legal advisor to
STORY TOP
it was feared a group of bondholders would block the deal unless they were guaranteed payouts. On Monday, Cook filed
bankruptcy papers in the US courts to shield it from lawsuits by American creditors. Crucially, the move triggers the payout of default insurance for bondholders.
travelweekly.co.uk
the Association of Atol Companies, welcomed the latest action by Cook but warned the travel group was living on “borrowed time”. “Te news from the US
is positive and if the insurers have given assurance to the
bondholders then hopefully that will be sufficient reassurance they will get something out of the deal.” He said the CAA could extend
Cook’s Atol licence by up to 14 days. “We are living on borrowed time,”
said Bowen. “Te CAA will need an agreement
in principal aſter the meeting on September 27 because they will only
have the Monday and Tuesday to resolve the issue. “Te CAA will do whatever it can
to make sure there is no failure, but it can’t break the rules. “It can stretch them and I’m sure
it will. But if they’re stretched and it failed, the claims would be higher.” Cook is licensed to carry almost
2.5 million passengers – ten times what Monarch was licensed to carry when it collapsed in 2017. A total of 480,000 unbonded
passengers are due to fly in October. “If there was a failure there
could be a domino effect for other businesses that are owed money or agents who have bought seat-only,” said Bowen. “Te damage to consumer confidence in the industry would be enormous. It’s in nobody’s interest if Cook fails.”
City analyst Andrew Monk said:
“Cook will probably survive because Fosun will make sure it does and do what is required. “Te bondholders will get what
they want, shareholders will get nothing and the directors will walk away with their salaries.” Under the proposed terms of the
deal, Fosun, which owns 18% of Cook, would control 75% of the company’s tour operating business and up to 25% of its airline in exchange for a £450 million capital injection. Debt holders and lending banks
have agreed to put up the remaining £450 million in exchange for control of Cook’s airline and up to 25% of the tour operator. Cook is seeking an additional £200m lending facility to
reassure lenders. i Get Social, page 39
19 SEPTEMBER 2019 5
PICTURE: Andy Huntley
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