AOT boss Andrew Burnes has invested in the Jetset Travelworld Group after acquiring the vast majority of shares owned by former chief executive Peter Lacaze.
Burnes is understood to have acquired around 11 million shares in a deal that gives him approximately 3% of the company.
No price was disclosed although observers suggested Burnes was likely to have paid around $4.5 million.
News of the transaction, which leaves Lacaze with only a relative handful of shares, emerged after Burnes addressed the Jetset Travelworld Network conference in Las Vegas.
He acquired the shares in a private capacity rather than through AOT.
Melbourne-based AOT Group was founded by Burnes in 1987.
Lacaze declined to comment on the share sale while Burnes could not be reached at time of going to press.
In a separate development, AOT has named Morena Parati as manager of its Italian operation as it "continues to place enormous importance on our long term markets".
AOT said in a statement that the appointment comes "despite the widespread hype about resource diversion into emerging markets".
Key European markets, along with the US, provide strong yield, length of stay and "most importantly regional dispersal" that benefits all areas of Australia, the company said.
Parati, well known in the Australian industry, will begin her new role on February 1 with her remit covering all AOT product in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
AOT said her "unsurpassed product and destination knowledge" will "provide a truly unique level of service to AOT's existing and new clients in Italy".
