TUI AG's supervisory board gave the go-ahead for a possible initial public offering (IPO) of container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd, as TUI aims to sharpen its focus on tourism.

A partial IPO could reportedly involve the sale of shares worth about 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion), which would make it Germany's biggest listing in more than three years.

A person close to Hapag-Lloyd's owners said TUI will sell up to 30 percent of the company in the IPO, plus another 350 million euros worth of new shares.

Reports have put the value of Hapag-Lloyd at between 3 billion euros and 3.5 billion, meaning a placement of 30 percent could have a value of around 1 billion euros.

TUI declined to comment on the size and timing of the IPO.

Hapag-Lloyd's other shareholder, the Albert Ballin investor group, will not sell any shares in the IPO, which is scheduled for April 15, the person said.

ANCHOR INVESTOR
The Albert Ballin group owns 50.2 percent of Hapag-Lloyd and consists of the state of Hamburg, as well as Klaus-Michael Kuehne -- majority owner of logistics group Kuehne & Nagel -- and Hamburg-based banks and insurers.

TUI said it will also sell an 11.3 percent stake in Hapag-Lloyd to Albert Ballin in a 315 million euro deal prior to any flotation. The deal will cut its stake in Hapag-Lloyd to 38.4 percent.

The person close to Hapag-Lloyd's owners said Kuehne will buy the entire stake that TUI is selling. Kuehne declined to comment.

Sources have said Hapag-Lloyd was hoping to find an anchor investor to hold between 10 and 20 percent, so a sale of a stake to Kuehne could achieve that aim.

TUI, which started life as a mining and steel company in 1924, is expected by analysts to use the proceeds from any IPO of its shipping stake to buy back the shares it does not own in London-listed subsidiary TUI Travel , although it has never confirmed any such plans.

Hapag-Lloyd reported a record 2010 operating profit of 583 million euros as global recovery led to increased demand for transportation and shipping.

TUI had originally tried to sell a majority stake in Hapag-Lloyd in 2008 but the global financial crisis derailed the deal, meaning TUI kept a larger stake than it originally intended.

The owners of Hapag-Lloyd in December picked Credit Suisse , Goldman Sachs and Greenhill to start preparations for a listing. (Reuters)