Directorate changes and Update on Strategy (0826A)

  TIDMWEST 

RNS Number : 0826A

Western & Oriental plc

26 January 2011

26 January 2011

Western & Oriental plc

("the Company")

Directorate changes and Update on Strategy

Board Changes

Further to the announcement on 18 January 2011, Western & Oriental plc, the luxury and specialist travel group, announces that at a Board meeting held on 25 January 2011, Pavlos Savvides was appointed Chairman of the Company with immediate effect.

The Company also announces that Jeremy Goldberg has resigned as a Director of the Company with effect from 25 January 2011.

The Board are in the process of considering the appointment of additional Non-Executive Directors and will look to complete this process by end February 2011.

Strategy Update - Sale of tour operating business

The Board, further to the announcement on 1 December 2010, also wishes to inform the market of its intentions regarding the strategy of the Company going forward.

As part of the strategic review initiated by the previous Board, a number of parties have expressed interest to acquire the tour operating business of the Company and as a result five offers for the business have been received.

Having evaluated these offers the board has concluded that it will proceed with two of the parties, being those who had made the highest offers and having minimal conditions, subject to a substantial deposit being received by 31 January 2011 and subject to completion of the sale by 28 February 2011. The transaction will result in the Company disposing of the brands and assets relating to the tour operating business, including forward bookings and customer monies relating to those bookings.

To ensure that the Company is able to proceed with an appropriate sale of the business during this period Raj Kumar, a Director of the Company, has agreed to extend his shareholder loan until 28 February 2011.

Completion of any transaction that would involve the sale of the tour operating business will be subject to shareholder approval which will be sought at a General Meeting.

Further details will be announced in due course.

Enquiries:

 
 Western & Oriental plc 
 Pavlos Savvides, Chairman    020 7821 4078 
 
 Collins Stewart 
 Adrian Hadden                020 7523 8350 
 
 

About Western & Oriental plc

Western & Oriental is a specialist luxury travel group with a number of established high quality brands. The company was admitted to trading on AIM under the ticker symbol WEST in March 2006. The Group acts as a tour operator, travel agent and conference and incentive organisers, offering a premium service for tailor-made and specialist packaged holiday programmes to destinations worldwide.

For more information on Western & Oriental and its individual luxury travel brand websites, go to www.westernorientalplc.com.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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