April 7 (Bloomberg) -- TUI AG shareholder John Fredriksen said he turned down an offer to nominate a director after the company told him he could only suggest a “neutral” party rather than a representative of his own interests.

Tor Olav Troim, the Norwegian shipping billionaire’s business partner, also said TUI gave them too little time to consider a nominee. Troim said Fredriksen, who called for TUI Chief Executive Officer Michael Frenzel’s resignation last year, had made previous demands for board representation.

“We finally received an invitation from the nomination committee on March 23 with an invitation to nominate a ‘neutral’ person by March 27,” Troim wrote today in an e-mail. “We did not consider either the limitation to a neutral party or the time limitation appropriate, and refused on that basis.”

The March 27 deadline was necessary under German law because at this date the agenda for the annual general meeting, which elects the board members with a majority vote, had to be published, TUI spokesman Robin Zimmermann said about Troim’s remarks. He also confirmed that Fredriksen, who holds 15 percent of TUI, was asked to nominate a “neutral” third party.

Under German law, supervisory board members, representing shareholders, must be elected by a majority at a company’s annual general meeting. TUI holds its annual meeting on May 13 in Hanover, where the company is based.

TUI also has a 43 percent stake in the Hapag-Lloyd shipping line. Fredriksen and Troim campaigned for TUI, owner of Europe’s biggest travel company, to sell Hapag in early 2008 before reversing their position later that year as the global recession hurt the shipping market and asset values.

Control of Hapag-Lloyd was eventually sold to a Hamburg- based investment group, a transaction that was renegotiated several times as the economy sagged and completed last month.

Ruxandra Haradau-Doeser, an analyst at Bankhaus Metzler in Frankfurt, said today it would be “a surprise” if Fredriksen decided to acquire more shares in TUI.

To contact the reporters on this story: Holger Elfes in Dusseldorf at helfes@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 7, 2009 09:15 EDT