Fosun International, the Chinese conglomerate that owns Club Med and Thomas Cook is reportedly contemplating a sale of both according to media reports.
Bloomberg said that Fosun is considering various options for Club Med as it looks to cut its debt. Sources told the newswire that it would look to value the business at $1.5 billion in any transaction.
Fosun, however, maintained it had no plans to sell Club Med.
“Fosun has decided to focus on its consumer family-oriented business and to reinforce its financial structure by disposing of 7b€ to 11b€ of non-core assets,” a spokesperson told the UK's City AM newspaper.
“In this process, the group considers its core assets to be pharmaceutical, retail and tourism arms as well as insurance sector.
“Fosun intends to remain a strong actor in tourism with Fosun Tourism Group and its successful investment in Club Med remains an essential part of this.”
Potential buyers
Club Med operates just over 50 resorts across the world with a mixture of leased, owned and managed properties.
Given the increased interest in leisure travel and the increased importance the big hotel brands are placing on resorts, you’d imagine that Fosun would be able to command a fairly hefty price for Club Med.
The likes of Accor, Marriott, IHG and Hilton could all be interested, alongside private equity and sovereign wealth funds.
Last year Hyatt bought Apple Leisure Group (ALG) for $2.7 billion. At the time of the purchase ALG’s AMR Collection brand portfolio had approximately 100 hotels and resorts operating in 10 countries.
Other potential sales
Another business that might be on the block is the slimmed down version of Thomas Cook that Fosun created after buying some of the assets of the collapsed tour operator.
Sky News reported that Fosun was exploring the sale of a stake in the business.
Again there was pushback.
“Fosun Tourism Group has no plans to sell Thomas Cook,” a Thomas Cook spokesperson told City AM.