NEW YORK -- Thomas Cook Travel Inc., Crimson Travel Service and Heritage Travel Inc. have agreed on a merger creating the nation's third largest travel company, the companies announced Monday.
Combined travel sales exceed $1.3 billion a year, the companies said.
The new partnership, which will retain the Thomas Cook name, has over 2,500 employees in more than 325 locations nationwide. Crimson and Heritage are based in Cambridge, Mass.
Thomas Cook of London was acquired in March by British media magnate Robert Maxwell, who described the merger as 'a perfect fit.'
'I firmly believe that we have created a company with the leadership and resources to provide our customers with unequaled global travel services,' he said in a statement. 'Crimson/Heritage, with its unparalled strength in the Northeast and its corporate, leisure, and group travel expertise, is the ideal complement to the Thomas Cook structure in the United States.'
Crimson co-founder David Paretsky will serve as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the new partnership.
Thomas Cook previously was a division of Dun & Bradstreet Corp.
