The boss of German Travel group Tui AG has ruled out any immediate merger with Tui Travel.
Chief executive Friedrich Joussen said that there was no possibility at present of a deal with Europe’s largest listed tour operator in which Tui AG owns a 54.48% stake, Reuters reported.
The two held talks at the start of this year on a merger to cut their costly holding structure, but scrapped the plans due to share price valuations.
Tui Travel yesterday increased its outlook for the year after good summer trading but Joussen said the Tui AG outlook was staying the same.
Tui AG plans to offload its remaining stake in container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd via an initial public offering as soon as market conditions allow.
Joussen said a flotation of Hapag-Lloyd, in which Tui AG holds a 22% stake, would go ahead as soon as the IPO market showed positive signs.
However, an IPO was not likely before autumn 2014 due to a planned change in management at Hapag-Lloyd in mid-2014 and continuing tough conditions in the shipping industry.