TUI shareholders blast restructuring plan -reports

FRANKFURT, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Big shareholders in German travel and shipping group TUI (TUIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) oppose management's plan to integrate container shipping arm Hapag-Lloyd by eliminating it as an independent unit, German media reported.

TUI said on Jan. 23 that its supervisory board had given the green light for a review to merge Hapag-Lloyd into the group, a move intended to signal management's intent to hold on to the container shipping business and make it harder to break up TUI into separate units.

U.S. investor Guy Wyser-Pratte, who bought 1 percent of TUI in September, has said a break-up would be one way to maximise the value of the group, which has a market capitalisation of 3.6 billion euros ($5.3 billion).

German current affairs magazine Der Spiegel said Norwegian billionaire John Frederiksen, who owns five percent of TUI, and Russian steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov, also a TUI shareholder, had criticised the plan to integrate Hapag-Lloyd.

In a letter to TUI supervisory board Chairman Juergen Krumnow, Frederiksen has called for the plan to be stopped, the weekly said in a preview received on Saturday ahead of publication on Monday.

The Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Saturday quoted Wyser-Pratte as saying he saw a chance to form an alliance with Frederiksen against TUI Chief Executive Michael Frenzel. Wyser-Pratte in October called for Frenzel's resignation.

A TUI spokesman told Reuters on Saturday that a letter from Frederiksen existed, but declined further comment.

TUI's next annual general meeting is scheduled for May 16. (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze in Hanover) (Reporting by Peter Starck; editing by Tony Austin)