A rumoured £8 million deal by Stella Travel Services to buy agency consortium Advantage is understood to have been dropped this week.
Original rumours about a deal between Stella and Advantage surfaced in April this year but were never confirmed by either organisation.
Advanced talks between Stella and Advantage, which has just voted in a new board, are believed to have stalled this week when Advantage directors rejected plans to continue with the deal.
Advantage chief executive John McEwan refused to confirm an offer had ever been on the table and said the consortium was currently focused on products and services for its members as an independent consortium.
He added: “We never say never in terms of approaches, but certainly our plans are to continue to focus on being an independent organisation. A change of ownership is not on the agenda.”
Stella already operates more than 700 Harvey World Travel high-street shops and Global Travel Group agencies. Advantage has 400 members spread across 700 locations.
The organisations have already held talks to secure an enhanced product deal for Advantage members to access more of Stella’s worldwide product range.