Shanghai, China, March 20, 2015—Today, Fosun Group held a “Happy & Fashionable Lifestyle Strategy” press conference in Shanghai to officially announce the successful completion of the famous French holiday resort chain Club Med transaction, and the establishment of a strategic partnership with British leading travel company Thomas Cook. For Fosun, dedicated to becoming a world class investment and insurance group, this will become another in a series of major initiatives among its Integrated Finance strategy, Hive City strategy and Health strategy.

With the continuous growth of consumer demand in the China market, Fosun will be paying increased attention to investment in fashion and lifestyle-related industries. With a focus on consumption upgrading, it is enhancing its global industrial integration capability, and is committed to building an internationally leading fashion and lifestyle platform. Meanwhile, Fosun will implement an ecosystem layout strategy within the fashion and lifestyle industry, applying improved collaboration, sharing and integration to relevant resources.

As early as 2002, Fosun invested in one of Shanghai’s cultural landmarks—Yuyuan Tourist Mart—and that was its first venture into the happy and fashionable lifestyle field. Fosun’s investment in Club Med marked its first truly significant foreign direct investment, and it was also the first step in Fosun’s comprehensive development of its globalization strategy. Since Fosun’s investment in Club Med in 2010, its development strategy within China has achieved significant results. Three resorts have been opened up one after another—in Yabuli (Heilongjiang), Guilin and Dong’ao Island in Zhuhai. In the near future, Club Med will announce the overall launch in China of its new resort concept brand, Joyview by Club Med, which will introduce the premium short vacation experience to China, guiding consumers from major cities to retreat to nature and enjoy distinctive vacations.    

As a leading China-based, globally orientated investment group, Fosun has always followed an investment model called “Combine China’s Growth Momentums with Global Resources.” Fosun’s sights are set on the consumer demands of China’s rapidly growing middle class and their continuously upgrading lifestyles. In rapid succession, it, together with funds under its management has invested in Greek fashion brand Folli Follie, world leading cosmetic laser solutions provider Alam Laser, high-end Italian tailored menswear company Caruso, American luxury women’s apparel company St. John, Atlantis Hotel Sanya, Hollywood movie company Studio 8 and British travel company Thomas Cook. Fosun has leveraged its strengths to open up new channel resources, and it has worked hard to help these brands grow rapidly in China. At the same time, Fosun continues to integrate and evolve, based on the idea that it can allow even more people to be able to enjoy fashion in healthier and happier ways. Fosun is blazing new trails in value investments, successfully achieving strategic transformations, and is dedicated to the goal of becoming a world-class investment group driven by the twin drivers of “insurance-oriented comprehensive financial capability” and “global industrial integration capability.”    

At present, Gaillon Invest II, which majority-owned by Fosun, with other strategic co-investors including U-Tour, JD Capital, Ardian and the management of Club Med, has already successfully acquired around 98% of Club Med’s equity shares, marking a perfect end to a very long 2-year tender offer journey. Fosun will preserve the purity of the French lineage of Club Med while working hard to develop it as the best all inclusive upscale holiday resort brand in the world. At the same time, Club Med will also serve as an important international business expansion platform for Fosun, as synergies are further developed through the integration of the resorts, lifestyle, leisure activity and other relevant industry areas under its name, thereby meeting the demands of China’s fashion and lifestyle consumers, whose numbers are constantly growing along with the development of the economy.  

March 6, Fosun also announced its investment in Thomas Cook, one of the world's leading global leisure travel groups, through its subsidiary Fidelidade-Companhia de Seguros, S.A., the largest insurance company in Portugal. The two parties signed a strategic partnership agreement at the time-honored National Gallery, with the aim of launching cooperation in a series of travel and vacation-related areas. It will also enable Thomas Cook to enter the rapidly growing tourism market in China. As part of the strategic partnership, Thomas Cook and Fosun are developing the opportunity to create a hotel investment platform, under a partnership model, that will enhance Thomas Cook’s exclusive product offering by developing a hotel portfolio under Thomas Cook’s Concept Hotel brands across key destination markets. In addition, as an important and long-standing partner of Club Med in France, Thomas Cook will further enhance the existing strong relationship between Club Med in France and extend it to other key European markets. At the same time, by making good use of Thomas Cook’s channel resources in the UK, Germany and other European markets, both partners will enhance their strengths through synergies.

Fosun Group Chairman Guo Guangchang stated: “The successful completion of Club Med transaction and the strategic partnership with Thomas Cook fully proves that, when it comes to leading international tourism corporations, Fosun is a trustworthy long-term value investor with ample experience. Thomas Cook has a rich brand tradition and holds the leading position in the European tourism market, while we are equipped with abundant specialized knowledge and resources. The strong alliance between the two sides will allow us to further develop international leisure tourism, demand for which grows with each passing day. It also makes Club Med Fosun’s first global brand name, although we were faced with many obstacles and challenges during bidding process, victory was ultimately ours, and that it has a great deal of importance for both Fosun and Club Med. Club Med will also become an investment platform for Fosun’s integration of the fashion and lifestyle industry, as well as a very important banner in our battle to overcome weak points.

Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser said: “we are delighted to announce our partnership with Fosun, which represents a major milestone in Thomas Cook’s 174-year history. Our cooperative partnership with Fosun will allow us to speed up the implementation of our profitable growth strategy, and will further develop product differentiation in our core destination markets. At the same time, this lets us to work together with local partners with ample experience, allowing us to seek out opportunities in one of the world’s largest and fastest growing tourism markets. We look forward to working together closely with Fosun and realizing the business opportunities we discover together.”  

Club Med CEO Henri Giscard D’Estaing said: “We already have a five-year history of working together with Fosun, and all along we have maintained the same values and strategic goals for Club Med. Fosun’s globalized investment approach and its resource advantage in China both offer invaluable assistance to Club Med’s global development. We fully believe that Fosun is just like us in wanting to build up Club Med as the world’s leading brand in all-inclusive, French-style high-end resorts. 

French Consul General in Shanghai Emmanuel Lenain, Minister-Counsellor of British Embassy Beijing Michael Charlton, Fosun Group CEO Liang Xinjun, and Qian Jiannong, Vice President of Fosun Group and President of Fosun’s Tourism & Commercial Group attended the news conference.

About Club Med
Since 1950, Club Med has been creating happy holidays, offering guests a world of delights in the most beautiful locations around the world. It now boasts over 70 destinations across five continents where guests can dream, be pampered and discover… and enjoy an unrivalled premium holiday experience. Club Med resorts are perfect for adventures, from sunny beaches and nature discovery to summer mountain activities and skiing… that will leave you with the happiest holiday memories.
For more information, please visit http://www.clubmed.com.cn

About Thomas Cook Group plc
Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the world's leading leisure travel groups with sales of £8.5 billion in the year ended 30 September 2014.  Thomas Cook has a fantastic brand heritage and has an enviable market position in Europe, it is supported by approximately 27,000 employees and operates from 15 source markets. Thomas Cook Group plc’s shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange (TCG).
For more information, please visit www.thomascookgroup.com.