Fosun Group, the Shanghai-based conglomerate backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang, is folding some of its tourism and entertainment assets into a new entity called Fosun Tourism and Culture Group.
The new company was registered in September, and the changes are part of Fosun’s restructuring, the conglomerate said in a statement posted to its WeChat account late Tuesday. The assets include Club Mediterranee and parts of other tourism businesses, the company said.
The financial services, pharmaceuticals, leisure and property group is restructuring some assets after announcing more than $15 billion in overseas acquisitions since 2010 through August. Fosun said in August it was preparing to sell as much as 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in assets as it focuses on raising its credit rating to above junk.
The new entity will also include assets related to Fosun’s China venture with Thomas Cook, Europe’s second-largest tour operator. Thomas Cook has said it plans to make China a “substantial” part of its business in a bet that the world’s largest outbound tourism market can help make up for weakness in Europe, where travel has been depressed by terror attacks and the UK’s vote to leave the European Union. Fosun said it expects the number of Chinese traveling outside the country to grow by as much as 20 percent annually.
News by Bloomberg, edited by Hospitality Ireland
