The renewal represents total revenue of more than CHF 300 million over the three-year term of the agreement.
ZURICH – gategroup is pleased to announce that it has renewed its agreement with long-time customer Air Canada for domestic locations in Canada served by gategroup’s Airline Solutions and Network and Product Solutions businesses. The award includes a three-year extension of all catering and provisioning services provided by Gate Gourmet as well as the end-to-end solutions for distribution and product innovation provided by Pourshins Supplair. The renewal represents total revenue of more than CHF 300 million over the three-year term of the agreement.
“We are proud to extend our business relationship with Air Canada. We have strengthened our strategic partnership over the last few years in a challenging business environment through a joint approach focused on quality, cost and innovation. We are committed to advancing our partnership through further investment in culinary and operational initiatives,” said Herman Anbeek, President, gategroup Airline Solutions.
Ken Colangelo, President and Managing Director, Gate Gourmet Canada, said, “This award is possible because of our customer relationship and the quality focus of our people, which is reflected in our strong operational track record.” Added Thomas Alvarez, Chief Commercial Officer for Pourshins Supplair Americas, “We look forward to continued collaboration with Air Canada on new ways to enhance the onboard service offering.”
gategroup takes note of request for agenda items
gategroup has received from RBR European Long Short Master Fund, a Cayman Islands based long-short hedge fund that recently built a 7.5% minority position in gategroup, the request for agenda items for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2015. In its request, RBR has proposed the election of Gerard von Kesteren, Heinz Robert Kohli, Frederick W. Reid Dr. Tommy Tan and a fifth not confirmed candidate as members of the Board of Directors of gategroup and Gerard van Kesteren as Chairman of the Board. In addition, the hedge fund proposes to elect three of its candidates as members of the Compensation Committee and has filed a motion against the re-election of the current Board members Andreas Schmid, Neil Brown, Brian Larcombe and Anthonie Stal. The Board of Directors will examine the request and proposals by RBR and will comment on or by the full year 2014 results announcement, on March 12, 2015.
Prior to this latest submission, RBR had proposed to gategroup various slates of between 3 to 5 candidates for the Board of Directors, adding up to 12 individuals in total for the Board of Directors, as well as candidates for the recently appointed CEO and CFO whose appointments RBR wants to review and reconsider.
While gategroup welcomes constructive dialogue with all shareholders, discussions with RBR regarding their requests failed to reach any agreement because what is sought is not a balanced and well-considered Board representation, but the ability to fully change control of the Board of the company. While gategroup has communicated to RBR that some of its candidates merit review and careful consideration, RBR has refused to pursue any alternative with the Board which would not give RBR majority control, despite the fact that RBR even after forming a group with another hedge fund together representing a stake of 11.7% remains a minority shareholder in the company.
The Board of Directors of gategroup will finalize its process of putting forward its slate of Board candidates for the 2015 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, and will communicate the individuals seeking election and re-election by March 12, 2015 when the company’s Year End results are released.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
