On 13 February shareholders in travel firm TUI (TUI) voted by an overwhelming majority (98.35% in favour) to cancel the group’s listing on the London Stock Exchange.

WHY IS TUI DELISTING?

TUI cited liquidity centralisation, simplification benefits associated with EU airline ownership and control, creating efficiencies and enhancing equity profile for the move. Currently a sizeable proportion of its shares are traded in Frankfurt.

WHEN WILL IT DELIST?

The company said  it will ‘make applications to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cancel the admission’ and adds it is ‘anticipated that the last day of dealings of the TUI AG shares on the main market will be 21 June 2024’.

WHAT ARE DEPOSITARY INTERESTS? 

A UK depositary interest is a UK-registered security which represents the rights to an underlying foreign security. In the case of TUI each DI has the rights to one TUI share.

Depositary interests are created to enable foreign securities to be bought and sold on the UK market and settled within the CREST electronic share trading system.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS FOR UK SHAREHOLDERS?

When a company delists from a stock exchange it doesn’t affect your ownership of the shares, however shares may not hold any value post-delisting.

In this case UK shareholders in TUI, which hold DIs (depositary interests) in the company, have three main options.

Option 1: Transfer of shares underlying the DIs

This would involve a written instruction to cancel the DIs and transfer the shares underlying them to an account through which Germany shares can be held at least seven business days ahead of the UK delisting date. The depositary can be contacted directly at shareholderenquiries@linkgroup.co.uk.

Option 2: Sell the DIs

Again, this should be done at least seven business days before the delisting.

Option 3: Do nothing

In this case you would still hold DIs at the point when the company delists from the UK. TUI will sell the underlying shares and the proceeds net of commissions, costs, expenses and tax will be returned to you. Depending on the number of residual shares in this category, the shares will be sold in normal market transactions or in an off-market sale arrangement.

 WHERE CAN YOU GET MORE INFORMATION?

TUI has issued guidance for UK shareholders on their website. UK shareholders can call +44 (0)333 300 1570. Calls are charged at the standard geographic rate and will vary by provider.

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