German travel syndicate TUI is soon to exit the containership arena by offloading its stake in Hapag-Lloyd.

    The company on Tuesday confirmed reports that it has reached an agreement to sell shares of the German carrier to the Albert Ballin consortium, a group of investors that includes the city of Hamburg and logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuhne.

    TUI says the transaction, which will see its holding in Hapag decline to around 22%, will boost cash inflow by approximately EUR 700m ($916.5m) by June 2012 and includes a provision that will set the stage for the sale of remaining shares to third-party investors.

    “In order to completely exit container shipping, TUI will obtain the right to call for an (initial public offering) IPO with priority placement of the shares held by TUI any time as of end of June 2012,” it said in a late-breaking message to German securities regulators.
 

source:asiasis