GLASGOW-based Minoan Group is in talks about a further three acquisitions of travel agency businesses, one in Scotland, one a UK-wide venture, and one in Canada, its managing director revealed yesterday.

Duncan Wilson, speaking as Minoan Group announced it had raised £1.3 million before expenses for expansion and working capital by placing shares at 8p each with institutional and other investors, said: "We are in advanced stages of due diligence with one company, and (in) a period of exclusivity with two others."

He expects the first of these deals to be announced in the next three to four weeks and envisaged, all going to plan, that all of the proposed transactions would be done by Christmas.

Mr Wilson declined to reveal any details about the businesses with which Minoan is in acquisition talks. But he highlighted a focus on the cruise market.

He pointed out that 99% of cruise bookings were made by speaking to someone over the phone, or going into a shop, as opposed to being made online.

He noted that, while the part of travel agents' business involving distribution of general package holidays on behalf of various tour operators had reduced dramatically, distribution of cruise holidays had grown and continued to expand.

Mr Wilson, a travel industry big-hitter and a former chief executive of Direct Holidays, reiterated plans to increase swiftly the annual transaction value turnover of the travel agency business he is building for Minoan from more than £45m currently to £100m.

Minoan said its directors would have liked to participate in the latest share placing but had been unable to do so because they were deemed to be in a "close period by virtue of information held by them about the acquisitions being considered by the company".

Mr Wilson noted Minoan's management had, collectively, invested more than £1m in the business earlier this year.

Minoan has made a raft of travel agency acquisitions in Scotland since last year. These have included Stewart Travel, John Semple Travel, Ski Travel Centre, and King World Travel.

Mr Wilson noted that Minoan's annualised transaction value turnover from cruise distribution was about £20m.

He highlighted hopes of more than doubling this by the year-end and becoming the sixth or seventh-biggest UK distributor of cruises.

He said Minoan anticipated "positive news in the very short term" on its application to the Greek authorities for permission for a £20m holiday development at Sitia on Crete.

Shares in Minoan dipped 0.125p to 9.125p yesterday.