In early December TUI secured a multibillion-euro bailout with the German government, private investors and banks after the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out its revenue.

Mordashov, who is already TUI's largest shareholder, owning 25% of the company, backed capital measures which would raise his stake to 36% on the condition that BaFin, the German markets watchdog, exempted him from launching a full takeover.

The deal also paves the way for Germany's economic support fund to take a non-voting stake in the form of a so-called silent participation.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor and Ilona Wissenbach; editing by David Evans)