Ownership of Thomas Cook changed after 44% of shares in the company were placed on the London Stock Exchange and snapped up by institutional investors.
A consortium of banks sold the 43.9% stake in the group that had belonged to former Thomas Cook parent Arcandor, ending a period of German control of the UK’s two biggest travel companies since the start of the decade:
See the full story at http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2009/09/22/2884/thomas-cook-goes-wholly-public-for-first-time.html