Special events in the quarter under review and after the closing date

In the framework of the planned separation of container shipping from the Group, the bidding period within which prospective buyers were able to submit bids for Hapag-Lloyd AG ended on 26 September 2008. Following thorough examination of the bids received, TUI AG’s Supervisory Board approved the sale of all shares in Hapag-Lloyd AG to a subsidiary of Albert Ballin KG at an enterprise value of € 4.45 billion at an extraordinary meeting held on 12 October 2008. At the same time, the Supervisory Board approved the acquisition of an entrepreneurial stake of 33.33% in the new company at a purchase price of € 700 million. TUI AG may dispose of its shares in the company. The coshareholders have pre­emptive rights. In addition, TUI AG has preemptive rights to tender the shares to the other shareholders, which may be exercised as at 1 January 2012 for the first time. The transaction will be subject to approval by the antitrust authorities. The Supervisory Board also approved payment of an appropriate special dividend to TUI AG shareholders following the completion of the sale. The amount to be distributed will be established in the framework of the preparation of the annual financial statements. The Group’s strong liquidity and financial situation resulting from the sale will open up investment opportunities for the further expansion of TUI AG’s tourism business.

TUI AG has in accordance with Rule 2.8 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers announced that it has currently no intention to aquire the remaining shares in TUI Travel PLC.

In recent months, TUI Travel, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Albrecht Knauf Industriebeteiligung GmbH discussed the examination of a potential merger of their subsidiaries Hapag-Lloyd Fluggesellschaft mbH, Hapag-Lloyd Express GmbH, Germanwings GmbH and Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG into a joint independent holding. The implementation of this project within the next twelve months has no longer been considered highly probable. Discussions have been concluded in October 2008. Assets and liabilities attributable to the ‘TUIfly’ companies were therefore reclassified from ’Assets held for sale’ and ’Liabilities related to assets held for sale’ back to the corresponding balance sheet items in the third quarter. Regardless of the reclassification, TUI Travel will continue to examine other potential alternatives to restructure its German airlines business.