Thomas Cook to Buy Out Co-Op Group

British tourism company Thomas Cook said it would pay £55.8 million ($71 million) to take full control of a jointly owned network of 764 travel shops in Britain, which it had run with partner The Co-operative Group. Thomas Cook said on Tuesday the deal for it to buy minority stakes in the network came about after the Co-Op announced plans to exit the joint venture, Reuters reported. The deal brings to an end the partnership launched in October 2011 when Thomas Cook, the Co?operative Group and the then Midlands Co-operative, now Central England Co-operative, merged to create the UK's largest travel agent. “This purchase gives us full control over our retail store network, enabling us to better integrate our stores with our online offering,” Thomas Cook chief executive, Peter Fankhauser, said in a statement. Thomas Cook recently reported a 41% tumble in underlying profits on a like-for-like basis to £308 million ($391 million) as it said it suffered amid a "difficult year for tourism", the Belfast Telegraph reported. The industry has been hit by European terror attacks and political instability in once- popular sun-seeker destination Turkey.