Shareholder: TUI AG should consider postponing Hapag-Lloyd sale

A spokesman for tanker magnate John Fredricksen, said TUI AG should consider postponing the sale of its Hapag-Lloyd unit, reports the German newspaper Die Welt.

The paper quotes Fredricksen associate Tor Olav Troim as expressing skepticism that TUI will be able to obtain an acceptable price for Hapag-Lloyd in the current economic climate. Fredricksen reportedly owns about 15 percent of TUI.

The paper cites reports that a Hamburg-based consortium of investors has offered the high bid 4.5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) for the company, but that it wants to pay only two-thirds of that in cash, and pay the remainder from later profits. The report cites reports that Neptune Orient Lines offered 3.5 billion euros ($4.8 billion) for Hapag-Lloyd, but that bid may be increased.