FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov plans
to hike his stake in TUI AG to at least 10 pct and take a seat on the German
company's supervisory board, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing sources within the
financial industry.
He also aims to launch a tourism joint venture in Russia with TUI, and there
have already been several meeting of the two parties' representatives, the
newspaper said.
Mordashov, whose investment vehicle S-Group currently holds 5.02 pct of TUI,
supports plans to split off TUI's shipping unit and focus the company entirely
on tourism, Welt am Sonntag said.
Options for the Hapag-Lloyd shipping division include a spin-off, a sale or
a merger with a competitor, after which TUI would retain a stake in the new
entitity, it said.
But Norwegian shipowner John Frederiksen, who has been calling for a
spin-off and separate stock market listing of Hapag-Lloyd, opposes a merger
because TUI's partial ownership of the unit would still lead to a decrease in
Hapag-Lloyd's value, it said.
TUI earlier this week said its supervisory board will discuss in a meeting
tomorrow possible options for a split-off of Hapag-Lloyd.
maria.sheahan@thomson.com
mas/vs
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