Thomas Cook Group is reportedly hunting for an extra £100 million for its rescue funding package – in addition to the £900 million proposed last month – after the company warned it would “run out of money” if a deal is not struck this month.
Fresh talks between Cook and its financial stakeholders in recent days have resulted in a request for more capital to be made available, according to Sky News.
In a court filing, dated 30 August seen by Sky News, Cook warned it was running out of time to finalise an agreement to safeguard its future.
The warning was contained in a legal argument asking the courts to accelerate the process for implementing its refinancing.
“The serious liquidity issues within the group have led to an urgent need to complete any restructuring within September,” the document read.
“[Any] delay would make it impossible to implement a restructuring transaction within September, and the Scheme Companies would be likely to run out of money and enter into formal insolvency proceedings,” it said.
Sky sources insisted the deal timetable remained flexible and finalising the transaction could slip into next month without any adverse consequences for the company.
Insiders said on Thursday that its lending banks were seeking greater comfort about the tour operator’s financial headroom.
As a result, the company is now in talks about an offer from creditors of an additional standby borrowing facility to provide that reassurance.
However, one City source said the standby facility was not expected to be drawn upon and Cook continued to believe that the £900 million it has been in talks with stakeholders about for several weeks is sufficient.
A Thomas Cook spokesperson declined to comment to TTG.