After Sita, new frontiers

Could Kuoni be about to snap up Distant Frontiers?

It has been common news that Kuoni Travel India, the largest travel and tourism company in the country, has been scouting around for acquisitions to build niche segments of its business.

And its latest catch might well be Distant Frontiers, an inbound destination management company that specialises in incentive tours from France.

Though officials from both Kuoni and Distant Frontiers were not available for comment on the announcement to be made later today, several professionals within the industry have confirmed the sale.

Kuoni Travel had begun its Indian operations 10 years back with the acquisition of outbound tour operator SOTC, and in 2000 it acquired Sita World Travel. The Delhi-based Distant Frontiers could be a prize catch for its leadership in the French market.

It isn't known whether directors in the company, Roma Satarawala and Deepak Deva, will have any role to play once the merger takes place.

Speculation on the size of its business has ranged from Rs12-13 crore annually to Rs 20 crore. There is no news on the price Kuoni has paid Distant Frontiers. Last year, Kuoni India was a Rs 300-crore business, roughly, in terms of revenue.

Rumours that Distant Frontier's business rival for the French market, Incent Tours, was also acquired by Kuoni Travels was strongly refuted by a senior Kuoni executive.