How Preussag Became TUI: A Clinical Study of Institutional Blockholders and Restructuring in Europe

Dittmann Ingolf, Maug Ernst, Schneider Christoph


Abstract
Between 1997 and 2004, Preussag, a diversified German conglomerate of “old economy” businesses, transformed itself into TUI, a company focused almost entirely on tourism and logistics.We analyze how Preussag executed this change, and how the change contributed to Preussag’s underperformance in the stock market. We find that only the divestitures created value, that the strategy to invest in tourism destroyed value, and that the acquisition premiums Preussag paid were mostly unjustified. The case shows how divestiture programs increase the liquid resources available to management and casts doubt on the positive governance role of institutional blockholders.

Keywords
Corporate Governance; Large shareholders; Germany; Diversification; Mergers and Acquisitions



Publication type
Research article (journal)

Peer reviewed
Yes

Publication status
Published

Year
2008

Journal
Financial Management

Volume
37

Issue
3

Start page
571

End page
598

Language
English

ISSN
0046-3892

DOI

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