Thomas Cook Gets a New Lease on Life, Secures £200 Million Credit

Thomas Cook, the beleaguered travel company, has secured a new credit facility worth £200 million from its bank lending group that will be available until April 30, 2013.

It replaces a £100-million short-term credit facility it took in October. The decision by lender groups, including Barclays, HSBC, RBS, and UniCredit, has given a new lease on life to the struggling company.

"I am absolutely delighted that we have reached agreement, and I would like to thank the banks for acting so swiftly," the BBC quoted group CEO Sam Weihagen as saying.

"This provides the group with much increased headroom to deal with unexpected events and the effects of an uncertain economic environment," he added.

The 170-year-old company has lost about 94 percent of its value over the past year, and its shares fell 75 percent on Tuesday. The company is expected to announce its preliminary financial results in the second week of December.

Thomas Cook, the second biggest travel company in Europe, has been hit by lower holiday bookings because of the global economic slowdown, as well as political unrest in popular holiday destinations such as Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.