Thomas Cook , Europe's second-biggest travel firm, said on Friday it had raised over $1 billion through new sterling and euro bond issues with the proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes.

The group launched and priced a 400 million euro ($546 million) 5-year Euro bond with an annual coupon of 6.75 percent maturing in June 2015 and a 300 million pound ($466 million), 7-year Sterling bond with an annual coupon of 7.75 percent maturing in June 2017.

We are delighted with the strong support for this bond issue from a wide group of institutional investors, said Finance Director Paul Hollingworth.

This transaction strengthens our financial position by diversifying our funding and extending the maturity profile of our debt.

The bonds will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. They have been issued without a credit rating, but with a commitment by Thomas Cook to obtain two credit ratings before the first interest payment date in April 2011. The joint book-runners for the issue of the Euro bond are Barclays Capital, Commerzbank, HSBC, Societe Generale, Bayern LB, WestLB and UniCredit.

The joint book-runners for the Sterling bond are Barclays Capital, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, ING Bank and RBS.

The co-lead managers are BNP Paribas and DnB NOR Bank.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Julie Crust)

BNP Paribas Barclays HSBC