German TUI : will not bid for Britain's TUI Travel

German tourism giant TUI said on Wednesday it had decided not to make a takeover offer for British-listed TUI Travel, Europe's biggest tour operator, in which it already holds more than 50 percent. "TUI AG confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for TUI Travel," the German group said in a brief statement. "This decision is based on the assessment that a share-based transaction at current exchange ratios is not in the interest of TUI shareholders," the statement explained. But it added: "Irrespective of this, TUI AG will continue fully to exercise its role as majority shareholder in order to leverage the value potential and benefits within the TUI Group for the benefit of all shareholders and other stakeholders of TUI AG." On January 16, TUI Travel had said that it had "recently received an approach from TUI AG which may or may not result in a combination of the two companies." TUI Travel was created in late 2007 from the merger of British travel group First Choice and the tourism activities of Germany's TUI. Frankfurt-listed TUI AG remains TUI Travel's biggest shareholder with a 56.44-percent stake. Investors appeared unhappy about the decision, with TUI shares the biggest losers on Frankfurt's mid-cap MDAX index, shedding 4.6 percent in a steady market.