Akshay Kumar– Mumbai
Cox & Kings has sold its camping division of its subsidiary, Holidaybreak (HBR) to Homair Vacances for a consideration of INR 892 crore. The closure of the deal will be completed anywhere between the next three months after the nod of the competition commission.
Speaking about the sale, Peter Kerkar, director, Cox & Kings, said, “We realised that the camping business did not have synergies with Cox & Kings. Camping holidays is not very popular with Indians. Also, we did not see much scope for expansion in this segment. Our primary focus has always been to become market leaders in the leisure and the education segment, and want to invest more into these segments. We believe this decision has come at the right time.”
The proceedings will be used for the company’s debt reduction. Currently, the company’s straight debt is INR 4200 crore. Now, Cox & Kings plans to majorly focus and invest efficiently into the education and leisure segment.
The camping division provided outdoor family holidays at over 170 third party owned campsites across 12 European countries. The company had acquired the camping division as a part of its acquisition of Holidaybreak in 2011.
