Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov raised his stake in German shipping, travel and tourism group TUI AG (TUI1.XE) to over 20% as planned, Mordashov's investment company S-Group Travel Holding GmbH said Monday.

The investor increased his stake to 20.45%, making him the largest shareholder in the group. The last officially announced amount of voting rights was 15.03% in July 2008. In the meantime S-Group raised its stake to around 18%.

At the end of August 2010, Mordashov said he didn't want to raise his stake to over 30%. Under German takeover law, a company is required to make a mandatory offer for the whole of a target company if it owns more than a 30% stake.

In September, the German cartel office gave its approval to the major investor to increase his stake to over 25%.

Mordashov has repeatedly said he is a strategic investor in the company with a long-term interest.

"This increase of our stake demonstrates our commitment in the business. We are convinced of the future growth potential of TUI AG amid its continuous drive to focus on tourism," he is quoted as saying in a statement.

TUI's second largest shareholder is Norwegian shipping mogul John Fredriksen, who, according to his own comments, holds around 18% in the company.

TUI AG owns around 55% in U.K.-listed travel company TUI Travel PLC (TT.LN), according to TUI AG's website.

-By Hilde Messer, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 506; hilde.messer@dowjones.com
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