Kuoni remains on track to sell the business by September 1, according to UK managing director Derek Jones.
Jones confirmed the sale process was now at the “business end” of negotiations following strong interest from private equity firms and the trade.
He also ruled out any possibility of a management buyout.
He said: “There was a lot of preparation to go through and now that’s coming to fruition. It’s a busy time and we are approaching the business end of the activity. We are on track.
“As anticipated the sale engendered interest from private equity and trade. We have been clear from day one it was not going to be a management buy out.”
The sale of the Swiss-owned Kuoni Travel Group’s tour operating interests, including its 36 stores and concessions, was announced in January this year.
The intention remains to sell the UK business as one entity. “The core objective is the same and it’s still the route we’re going down,” said Jones.
He added there had been no negative impact on the group’s UK bookings as a result of the sale announcement while staff were being kept up-to-date and remained upbeat about the company’s future prospects.
“The management team are excited by the whole process and the mood in the business is positive. We communicate what we can with our partner stores but we have not had many questions from agents about it. I would say sales have only been affected positively,” he said.
The UK business will mark its 50th anniversary on September 1.