| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 17/04/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 8 |
| Copyright: Other |
Gurassa plays it cool with the asking price
T homson Travel Group chief executive Charles Gurassa has played a pretty good game so far in rejecting overtures from C&NTouristic.But as Travel Weekly went to press, the relationship between the two companies was entering a crucial stage.
C&N has already had offers of 130p a share and 145p a share rejected and is expected to come back with a third, and perhaps final, bid.
Gurassa has to try to get the most he can for shareholders without being unrealistic and putting off the Germans.
If C&N walks away and even turns its attention to First Choice, where would that leave Thomson?
No one else has yet emerged as potential purchasers and Thomson could be left alone, far weaker than Airtours and Preussag when brokering deals in resort.
Gurassa’s strategy looks pretty good but it could take years to get the share price up to the levels that C&Nare prepared to pay. And shareholders don’t like waiting. They like instant profits or the ability to cut their losses and move on.
Of course, the dream ticket for shareholders would be if others throw their hat in the ring and Thomson becomes the subject of a bidding war.
After the pasting we got last week in the German press, we’d all find it hilarious if the Germans ended up paying way over the odds for the UKoperator.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor