Newspaper: Vultures Funds Want TUI

So-called vulture funds have made bids to buy shares in TUI, Europe's largest tourism group, the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper reported Friday. Publicly-owned bank WestLB, which has the largest stake -- 31 percent -- in TUI, has received offers from US funds Fortress, Cerebus and Lone Star and others, the paper wrote. But the bids were lower WestLB's targets. Rumors have been circulating for weeks that TUI could be the victim of a hostile takeover, since US investment bank Morgan Stanley announced it held 10.1 percent of the group's shares. TUI, however, announced positive second-quarter results last week and has forecast a surge in full-year profits. Vulture funds are said to buy securities in distressed investments.