| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 80 |
| Copyright: Other |
Globus Group sells 25-shop Apollo Travel
COSMOS owner The Globus Group has finally sold its 25-strong travel agency chain Apollo Travel to United Norwest Co-op.The deal is expected to be completed early this week.
A sale price is unknown although 54-branch United Norwest is believed to have paid significantly less than the £5m wanted by Globus chairman Fabio Mantegazza.
Apollo, which was put up for sale last year, initially operated just five shops before purchasing a further 20 agencies from Woodcock Travel in November 1998.
But Globus has struggled to make the agencies profitable despite rebranding to Apollo.
Mantegazza admitted a deal was imminent and said legal problems had delayed the sale.
Meanwhile, Cosmos managing director Nigel Wright admitted it is poised to acquire a specialist short-haul charter operator along with a start-up e-commerce company.
“The operator will complement our business while e-commerce is clearly an important field,” he said.
He declined to reveal further details.
Wright added that alliance talks are continuing with operators in Italy and Holland.