Die Welt am Sonntag said the takeover documents were ready to be signed and that Westdeutsche Landesbank, which has a majority stake in Thomas Cook, was pulling the strings behind the deal.

No one at Preussag was immediately available to comment. Earlier this month, Preussag confirmed it was in talks on possible cooperation with Thomas Cook. Last week, Preussag announced its intention to make a takeover offer for German travel agent chain First Reisebuero GmbH and said it expected an agreement by the year-end.

Preussag already owns travel agents Hapag-Lloyd and TUI, which operate under its holding company Hapag-Touristik Union, and has a JV with Thomas Cook.