First Choice chief executive Peter Long has hit back at claims the merger of TUI and First Choice was timed to scupper the rival ThomasCook/MyTravel deal.
Both Thomas Cook and MyTravel had been in negotiations with First Choice about the sale of its mainstream business in the weeks running up to the announcement of the merger.
Although Long, a close friend of Thomas Cook UK chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa, would not say how he felt personally when the deal was announced, he admitted it surprised him.
“We were going through an auction process and it did not turn out the way we initially anticipated,” he said.
Responding to suggestions the merger was designed to scupper the rival deal, Long said: “Why would we be concerned with spending vast amounts of adviser fees just to stop someone else doing what they want to do? You manage the train set you do not own it, you do things that are absolutely right for your shareholders.”