Thomas Cook India Group acquires 51 pc stake in DEI

New Delhi: Travel services provider Thomas Cook India Group on Monday said it has acquired 51 per cent stake in imaging solutions and services firm Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), at an enterprise value of USD 40.6 million (around Rs 289 crore).

The acquisition marks the group's entry into an adjacent sector, complementary to its travel and travel-related services portfolio, Thomas Cook India said in a statement. Thomas Cook India Chairman and Managing Director Madhavan Menon said: "Our acquisition of DEI, a global imaging solutions and services giant, presents the Thomas Cook India Group an opportunity to participate in an exciting new business space, adjacent to our core travel services portfolio that is both PAT and free-cash accretive from day one."

The Group sees an immediate opportunity for its outbound customers from India and Hong Kong, as well as inbound and destination management specialists customers across its global network, he added. "With the growing demand for experiential travel and social sharing, DEI's partnerships with iconic attractions, theme parks, water parks and resorts will further enhance our travel services portfolio in line with our philosophy of creating long-term shareholder value," Menon said.

With several key markets in common, "the addition of Ram (K S Ramakrishnan, founder CEO and president of Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging) and his team at DEI to our family also presents new synergistic opportunities leveraging our travel services across 25 countries," he added. DEI has a strong network of over 120 partners, and is present at more than 250 venues spanning over 14 countries comprising Singapore, UAE, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, China, the US, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mauritius, Maldives, Egypt, India and Kuwait. It has completed 3.6 million transactions in 2018, the statement said. "Our synergy with Thomas Cook India Group in the travel and tourism ecosystem strengthens DEI's position in our existing markets while giving us immense reach to expand," DEI founder CEO and President K S Ramakrishnan said. DEI is leading the digital transformation of the guest photo journey through NFC, facial recognition and other state-of-the-art proprietary technology enabling the guest to receive and share their memories in real time, he added. Shares of Thomas Cook India on Monday closed at Rs 215.10 per scrip on the BSE, up 0.89 per cent from its previous close.