Tui Board recommends delisting from the London Stock Exchange

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Tui, Europe’s largest travel company, advised shareholders to suspend its UK listing next month, dealing a further blow to London’s shrinking stock market.

The Anglo-German travel group, which has 2023 revenues of 20.7 billion euros and is valued at 3.5 billion euros and is listed in both London and Frankfurt, decided on Thursday it would no longer list in the UK after pressure from investors. announced. “advantageous”.

Tui’s board said in a statement that less than a quarter of the company’s shares are currently traded in London, citing a “significant” decline in liquidity in the UK stock market in recent years.

The Hannover-based company has been dual-listed since 2014 and still counts British tourists as its largest customer group.

“We have followed our shareholder proposals and have had extensive discussions. There are clear benefits for our investors and the company if we discontinue our London listing,” said Matthias Kipp, chief financial officer. he said.

Over the past few months, the London Stock Exchange has seen a steady stream of companies abandoning their existing listings or opting to list on competing exchanges. The losses have frustrated Conservative MPs who want to emphasize London’s financial attractiveness post-Brexit.

In November, the chief executive of commodity group Glencore announced that his company’s planned coal mine spin-off would be floated in New York, even though natural resources companies have traditionally been one of London’s strengths. He said he would.

British pollster YouGov is also considering abandoning its London listing, while commodity broker Marex applied to list in the United States in December. Irish building materials group CRH and packaging company Smurfit Kappa were among the companies that withdrew their listings in London last year.

Tui said he will formally propose delisting at the annual general meeting on February 13. The resolution requires support from 75% of shareholders to pass.

If successful, the company would delist from London in June, the company added.

With this move, “[the] Simplified structure, improved liquidity and indexation, and benefits for EU owners of airlines,” Keep said. For airlines to benefit from participating in a single aviation market, they must be owned and controlled by an EU legal entity.

“On this basis and after a thorough analysis, we recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution at the next general meeting.”

Tui’s largest single shareholder, with an almost 11% stake, is Russian steel magnate Alexei Mordashov. Mr. Mordashov is under EU and British sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and cannot participate in shareholder votes because he cannot access investments.

Tui expects 2024 to be a year of strong growth. The company announced its 2023 results last month, saying it expected revenue to rise 10% next year as consumer travel demand showed resilience despite the cost of living crisis and rising credit costs. Ta.