A large chunk of Arcandor’s 53% stake in Thomas Cook could be placed on the stock market as creditors scramble to claw back money from the collapse of the German retail giant.

Former staff who took over a Thomas Cook Dublin travel agent have been arrested by police in a raid. Among the 28 squatting the premises in the Irish capital was an eight-and-a-half-month pregnant woman who is reported to have gone into labour as she was removed.

Collapsed retail giant Arcandor is insisting it has no immediate plans to relinquish its controlling stake in Thomas Cook to creditor banks, leading to a potentially lengthy battle over the fate of its shareholding in the tour operator.Arcandor became one of Europe’s largest non-banking failures during the credit crisis when it filed for protection from its creditors on Tuesday.

Thomas Cook could be sold to institutional investors after its parent company Arcandor went into administration today.The German retail giant, which owns a 52.8 percent stake in Thomas Cook, filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure state aid. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected its desperate plea for a €650m bail-out, accusing its shareholders and backers of not presenting a sustainable plan that would protect taxpayers’ money.

Thomas Cook says it will remain “completely ring-fenced” from the current difficulties of German retail group Arcandor, which owns a 53 percent stake in the London-listed tour operator.The chances of the German conglomerate gaining state aid appeared to dwindle after Berlin and Brussels warned yesterday that it did not meet a key condition of receiving help from Germany’s rescue fund.

Thomas Cook has reported a surge in bookings in the past four weeks as the downturn sparks a return to package holidays.The tour operator said cumulative bookings across its markets were down 16 per cent on last year for this summer, after it cut capacity by 11 percent. Bookings for this winter season are down 7 per cent overall but up 12 per cent over the past four weeks.