The first weekend of November has proven to be very busy. Thomas Cook has been sold to Fosun, the owner of Club Med, in a deal reported to be around £11 million. At the same time, Fitbit was bought by Google for £1.6 million.
Thomas Cook Continues To Be Sold In Pieces
Despite its failure in October, the demand for Thomas Cook still seems to be high. Chinese firm Fosun is also buying the company’s Club hotel and Casa Cook brands.
The company was seen as a potential investor and saviour of the travel company before the collapse.
Fosun’s chairman, Qian Jiannong, has stated in a media release that his company had always believed that Thomas Cook was valuable. He also stated that with the acquisition of Thomas Cook, Fosun can now expand their tourism business.
This isn’t the first part of Thomas Cook to be sold. In October, Hays Travel bought all 555 high street locations. Since the announcement, it has transpired that Hays bought the shops for £6 million.
Fitbit Is Bought By Technology Giant Google
Google is looking to expand into the fitness technology industry with the purchase of Fitbit. loss-making Fitbit has been looking into expanding into other areas recently, but funds have been scarce.
The bid from Google places the valuation of Fitbit at $7.35 a share. This is 19% higher than the company’s stock was at the close of the day on Thursday.
However, the valuation of Fitbit is remarkably lower than it was when the company floated itself on the stock market. In 2015, after 8 years of trading, the company was valued at more than $4 billion. In the past four years, that valuation has more than halved. Google’s interest in the brand has helped Fitbit’s shares to increase by 40% since trading started on Monday.
Despite selling over 100 million devices, there has been a significant decline in demand for Fitbit products due to new entrants to the market.
The deal is expected to be completed within 2020.