TUI Proposes Strategic Delisting from London Stock Exchange

TUI asked its shareholders on Thursday to consider changing where and how its stock is publicly listed. 

The board of Europe’s largest tour operator has proposed simplifying the company’s structure by delisting from the London Stock Exchange. It would retain its full listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It said 77% of its share transactions recently went through the German exchange. TUI would then be upgraded to the “prime standard market segment” and included in the MDAX, an index that many funds invest in.

Mathias Kiep, TUI’s chief financial officer, said in a statement the advantages of the change included “improvement in liquidity, indexation, and benefits for the EU ownership of our airlines.”

TUI shareholders will ultimately make the decision at the annual meeting on February 13. If they okay the move, TUI will likely delist from the London Stock Exchange around June 2024.  

The performance of the company’s shares was boosted toward the end of last year, as TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel forecasted a 25% increase in operating profit for the year ahead. The tour operator continues to ride the tailwinds of its platform consolidation and strengthening across its core business segments, as detailed in its fourth-quarter earnings performance reported in December.

TUI’s move comes as some non-travel companies, such as CRH, Arm, and Flutter, have chosen to list outside the UK even though they have headquarters there. The UK-based hotel giant IHG didn’t rule out moving from a London to a U.S. stock exchange a year ago during an April 2023 CEO interview with the Financial Times. 

European-based companies that may eventually want to have initial public offerings, such as GetYourGuide, may look at these moves and choose to list in Germany or the U.S. instead of London despite London often being a key financial and tourism center. Many investors believe the U.S. stock markets offer access to more capital.