TUI closed sale of VTG
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Hanover, December 15, 2005
Following the necessary approvals of the cartel authorities in Germany and Austria, TUI has closed the sale of its rail and tankcontainer logistics business, pooled under its wholly-owned subsidiary VTG AG to the Luxembourg-based Companie Européenne de Wagons, which was established for the transaction by the US-based investment firm WL Ross & Co. LLC. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. ‘With the completion of the sale, we will further reduce our net debt by around Euro 400 million as planned,’ said Rainer Feuerhake, CFO of TUI AG, expressing his satisfaction with volume and timing of the transaction.
VTG offers a wide range of rail-based logistics solutions. In particular for customers in the chemical, petrochemical and mineral oil industries. The company is particularly competent in handling hazardous goods. With 45,000 railway tank cars and goods wagons, VTG is Europe’s biggest private rental company.
Since its founding in April 2000, WL Ross has sponsored USD 4.5 billion of alternative investments in the steel, textiles, coal, automotive and financial services industries in the US, UK, France, China, Japan and Korea.
TUI is the European market leader in tourism and, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Hapag-Lloyd and the recently acquired CP Ships, a top five player in the global market for container shipping. In tourism, the tour operators of TUI trade in 17 European countries. In 2004, the Group had around 18 million customers. TUI now includes about 3,500 travel agencies, over 100 aircraft, 41 incoming agencies and 285 hotels with approximately 163,000 beds in 28 countries. The container shipping operation, with a total of 136 container ships, specialises in complex, wide-ranging logistics services. The container ships primarily supply the main routes between Europe and Asia, Europe and North America and North America and Asia. Hapag-Lloyd’s and CP Ships’container shipping operations transported a combined total of approx. 4.7 million TEU worldwide in the 2004 financial year.
For further information please contact:
Björn Beroleit, phone +49 511 566-1310
Nicola Gehrt, phone +49 511 566-1435