Tui’s plan to quit London stock market finds new backers

Efforts to stop Tui defecting from the London stock market next week have been dealt a blow after two shareholder advisory groups backed its decision to leave.

The tour operator’s investors will vote at its annual meeting on Tuesday on whether to approve a motion to exit the Square Mile, leaving it with a sole listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Advisory group Pirc, which has a history of confronting boards, nonetheless swung behind Tui’s top brass, saying delisting from London and shifting entirely to Germany ‘better aligns’ with the firm’s ownership and could reduce ‘volatility in trading’.

It added that a German-only listing would free Tui from having to adhere to ‘two separate regulatory regimes’, which it said created ‘inefficiencies as well as ongoing and periodic costs’.

Fellow shareholder adviser ISS also backed the plan, noting that 77 per cent of Tui’s shares were held on its German register last November. Just 10 per cent of its stock trades were conducted in London last year. 

Tui’s looming defection will ramp up 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. 

Others defections in the pipeline include packaging group Smurfit Kappa and education firm Pearson.