Travel services provider Thomas Cook India Ltd (TCIL) today said it could consider taking the acquisition route to drive growth, while focusing on deeper penetration in small cities and towns.
“...We are open to consideration should a viable acquisition present itself,” Thomas Cook India Managing Director Madhavan Menon told PTI.
He did not specify if the company was actively scouting for an acquisition at the moment. In 2006, TCIL had acquired LKP Forex Ltd for a reported Rs 100 crore and Travel Corporation India (TCI) for Rs 182.45 crore.
Menon, however, said the company’s primary focus would be to grow through usual expansion. “We are under-dimensioned in India and hence organic growth via geographical expansion is our route, yet untapped opportunity, that we would like to leverage,” he said.
At the same time, TCIL has also put in place a plan for an aggressive foray into Tier II and III towns. “Our retail leisure and foreign exchange customers, as also overseas students, are increasingly emerging from smaller cities. We are keen on supporting this audience via our local presence,” he said.
This would be done through a mix of branch expansion and franchisee-trade partner model, Menon added. The company’s footprint extends to 201 locations across 71 cities, including 22 airport locations at five cities. It has a partner network of 90 franchisees termed ‘Gold Circle Partners’ (GCPs) and 180 Preferred Travel Agents (PTAs).
“We plan to add 50 GCPs by September this year and 15 PTAs by the end of this financial year. In the next couple of years we should achieve our target of 120 cities in the country,” he added. Commenting on the firm’s overseas operations, he said: “Our TCI sales offices will be leveraged for key overseas markets; coupled with the set up of sales agents and franchisees in the South Asia and Mauritius region.”
Thomas Cook India is present in Sri Lanka through a branch office and a subsidiary in Mauritius. It is a part of Thomas Cook Group Plc UK (TCG), one of the largest travel groups in the world with a market cap of around $6 billion, as per its website. The company started operations in 1881 and offers a wide range of services, including foreign exchange, corporate travel, leisure travel and insurance.
The firm is listed on BSE and NSE and registered revenues of Rs 267 crore and net profit of Rs 41 crore in the year ended December 31, 2010.
