The Hindu Business Line : Thomas Cook India looking at expansion

Thomas Cook India Ltd (TCIL), which was taken over by Dubai Financial LLC last January, is looking at expansion through acquisitions in the country and abroad over the next couple of months.

Mr Udayan Bose, who has replaced Mr Ashwini Kakkar as the Non-Executive Chairman of TCIL, said the acquisitions would be in fields that the company is currently involved in. But he did not provide details of the investment planned or the timeframe for the proposed acquisitions.

He was speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the first annual general meeting called by TCIL following its takeover by Dubai Financial, which is owned by Dubai Investment Group, the global investing arm of Dubai Holding Company. TCIL, he said, would serve as the hub for extending Dubai Financial's interests in South and West Asia.

Board change

Following the acquisition, Mr Madhavan Menon would continue to be Executive Director - Foreign Exchange, and Mr Robin Banerjee, Executive Director - Finance.

Among the new faces on the board are Mr Sayanta Basu, who has been appointed Non-Executive Deputy Chairman, Mr Hoshang Billimoria, Ms Jacqueline Gorski, Mr Abdul Hakeem Kamkar, Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr Dilip De, and Mr A.V. Rajwade who would be Non-Executive Directors on the board.

Ruling out micro-management by the new dispensation, Mr Bose said the existing management team would continue to be in charge of the company's daily operations. The new members would only help the management team achieve better results.

The company would maintain its focus on growing its inbound, outbound and corporate travel businesses. It would seek to improve the efficiency of its forex business and achieve the right linkage with its travel business, he said.

The company, which had made an open offer to the public following the takeover, received a response from about 8 per cent of individual investors. TCIL now holds 68.1 per cent stake in the company.

No buyback

Ruling out a buyback or any further capital expansion at this point, Mr Bose said the company was comfortable with its current holding. Post-acquisition, there has been no dilution in the stakes held by the State Bank of India (8.3 per cent) or UTI (2.4 per cent). The public and other commercial bodies together hold the remaining 21.2 per cent stake.

Under a licence agreement with Thomas Cook AG, the company will retain the Thomas Cook brand name and logo for a period of seven years.

Henceforth, the company would also follow the financial year from January to December, shifting from the November-October cycle followed by the earlier parent company. As a result, the current financial year ending in December 2006 would be for 14 months,from November 2005 to December 2006.

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