Efforts to prevent Tui from leaving the London stock market next week were dealt a blow after two shareholder advisory groups backed the decision to leave.
The tour operator’s investors will vote at their annual meeting on Tuesday on whether to approve a motion to exit the Square Mile, leaving the company with a sole listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Advisory group Pirc, which has a history of confrontations with boards, nevertheless backed Tui’s top leadership and said delisting from London and switching entirely to Germany “better fits” with the company’s ownership and could reduce ‘trading volatility’.
It added that a Germany-only listing would free Tui from the obligation to adhere to “two separate regulatory regimes”, which it said caused “inefficiencies and ongoing and periodic costs”.
Fellow shareholder advisor ISS also backed the plan, noting that 77 percent of Tui’s shares were on the German register last November. Last year, only 10 percent of share transactions took place in London.
Ready to go: Tui’s investors will vote on whether to approve a motion to leave the Square Mile
Tui’s impending defection will increase pressure on London’s stock market regulators and government officials. Last month, gambling giant Flutter began trading in New York and announced plans to move its ‘primary’ listing across the Atlantic.
Other dropouts in the pipeline include packaging group Smurfit Kappa and education company Pearson.