Thomas Cook refutes sale reports as parent files for bankruptcy

Thomas Cook, one of Europe's biggest travel companies, said that it has not received an offer for the company and is not engaged in merger talks with anyone.

Investors are lining up for Thomas Cook in anticipation that Arcandor, which owns 52.8 per cent stake in Thomas Cook, will put the company for sale.

Arcandor filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday.

The company had sought 650 million euros ($930 million) of loan guarantees from the German government because about 600 million euros of its loans needed refinancing. However, the German government refused to help, because the company was in trouble before the economic crisis.

Arcandor's bankruptcy filing covers German retailer Karstadt and its mail-order businesses, but Thomas Cook is a separate operation and Arcandor said the travel company would "remain unaffected".

On Wednesday Karl-Gerhard Eick, chief executive of Arcandor, insisted that it had no immediate plans to hand over its controlling stake in Thomas Cook creditor banks.