Thomas Cook India board of directors reorganized
Mumbai: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said on Saturday that Ashwini Kakkar has ceased to be the managing director and CEO of the company. The move comes as part of the company's reorganization moves in the wake of its acquisition by Dubai-based Dubai Financial LLC in December.

In terms of the Share Purchase Agreement signed on Dec 21, Dubai Financial LLC would acquire 100% shareholding of Thomas Cook India and should therefore indirectly control 60% of the total paid up capital of the company. An open offer under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulation 1997 made by Dubai Financial LLC is currently under process.

The Dubai based group is likely to retain the brand name in India. Dubai Financial LLC is a subsidiary of the Dubai Investment Group, a Dubai Government investment venture.

Thomas Cook AG's nominees, including non-executive chairman Thomas Doring, also resigned along with Kakkar, as the Directors of the Thomas Cook India. The others who put in their papers include Heinz-Ludger Heuberg, Juergen Bueser, Roland Zeh and Ian Ailles.

The 12 member Thomas Cook India board had five executive and seven non-executive directors. Six of the board members, led by Doring, were replaced by new directors representing the new strategic investor.

Udayan Bose, Jacqueline Gorski, Sayanta Basu, Dilip De, Abdul Hakeem Kamkar and A.V. Rajwade have been appointed as Additional Directors till the next Annual General Meeting.

Kakkar joined Thomas Cook India in June 1997. He was also in charge of the operations in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Egypt.

Apart from the 60% holding acquired by Dubai Financial LLC, the Indian public holds a 20% stake in Thomas Cook India. Private corporate bodies own 3.06%, Mutual Funds and UTI have 3.85%, FIIs have 5.17%, SBI has 8.29%, banks and financial institutions hold 8.46% in the company.
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