A £28 million cash offer to buy travel group Travelzest is due to be finalised next month, according to a ‘cautiously optimistic’ trading statement by the group.
According to a pre-close trading statement, the offer, believed to be from TUI Travel, was confirmed on October 31 and is undergoing due diligence. The current offer is for £1.15 per share.
The company said nothing in the due diligence process had led to the offer being reduced but added there was no certainty a firm offer would be made.
In the statement, Travelzest revealed it has ditched the Holiday Express agency brand and passed the operation of its two domain names holiday.co.uk and flight.co.uk to a third party.
The group had already announced the closure of the Holiday Express call centre and closed its offices last month. Holiday Express’ losses for the year ending October 31, 2008, were around £1.2 million.
In a statement, the company said it had transferred the website operations to avoid exposure to further costs.
In June the group bought Canadian luxury retailer The Cruise Professionals.
Chief executive Chris Mottershead said: “I am pleased with the underlying performance of the group this year. The actions we have taken in our UK online distribution business Holiday Express in the last six months have reduced our fixed cost base while maintaining our ability to create first-class experiences for our customers.”
He said the board remained cautiously optimistic for the 2009 financial year.