The acquisition marks the Thomas Cook India Group’s entry into an adjacent sector, complementary to its travel and travel related services portfolio and is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one.
Thomas Cook India Group has announced its acquisition of a 51% stake in Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), one of the world’s leading imaging solutions and services providers at an enterprise value of US $40.6 million, subject to regulatory approvals.
The acquisition marks the Thomas Cook India Group’s entry into an adjacent sector, complementary to its travel and travel related services portfolio and is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one.
Established in 2004 with offices in Singapore, Dubai, Mumbai, Orlando, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, DEI focuses on imaging solutions for the attractions industry with a robust end-to-end turnkey model by providing equipment, software, talent and operational expertise consultation to its business partners.
Its clients include Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which recently extended its 10-year partnership and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore; Ngong Ping 360 in Hong Kong; The Venetian in Macau; At The Top Burj Khalifa in the UAE; and Ramayana Water Park in Thailand.
DEI is aggressively expanding their presence into Greater China, including Hong Kong SAR. Its proprietary imaging solution has enabled payment gateway localisation for the local Chinese market expanding into AliPay and WeChat Pay.
Madhavan Menon, chairman and managing director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited said, “Our acquisition of DEI, a global imaging solutions and services giant, presents the Thomas Cook India Group an opportunity to participate in an exciting new business space, adjacent to our core travel services portfolio that is both PAT and free cash accretive from day one.
He elaborated, “With several key markets in common, the addition of Ram and his team at DEI to our family, also presents new synergistic opportunities leveraging our travel services across 25 countries. We see an immediate opportunity for our outbound customers from India and Hong Kong, as well as our inbound and DMS customers across our global network.
K.S. Ramakrishnan, founder CEO and president of DEI said, “Our synergy with Thomas Cook India Group in the travel and tourism ecosystem strengthens DEI’s position in our existing markets whilst giving us immense reach to expand. DEI is leading the digital transformation of the guest photo journey through NFC, facial recognition and other state of the art proprietary technology enabling the guest to receive and share their memories in real time.”