TUI could divest holiday brands - report

(Adds TUI comment)

Aug 17 (Reuters) - TUI (LSE: TUI.L - news) , the world's largest leisure tourism group, is considering a spin-off of businesses with turnover of about three billion euros ($3.3 billion), London's Times newspaper reported on Monday.

TUI, which owns the Thomson and First Choice brands, could seek a separate listing of non-core assets such as hotelbeds.com, Crystal Ski Holidays and Hayes & Jarvis, while continuing to retain a stake, the newspaper said. (http://thetim.es/1TLTc7u)

A spokesman for TUI said the company had already said in May that it was reviewing the status of hotelbeds.

"We are evaluating all options for hotelbeds to maximise growth and value. This includes also the option of keeping the entity within the group. No decisions have been made," he said in an emailed statement.

TUI was created by last year's merger of London-listed TUI Travel and German part-owner TUI AG. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is simplifying its structure and reorganising its businesses and has said it will sell British hotel booking website LateRooms.

Crystal and Hayes & Jarvis are part of TUI's specialist unit and run separately from its main tourism business, but the spokesman said they fitted into the wider group by using the flight capacities of the main tourism units.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in TUI traded up 0.8 percent to 1,171 pence at 1018 GMT on Monday.

The company said last week it would take a 35 million euros to 40 million euros hit for canceled holidays to Tunisia after an attack in late June that killed 38 tourists, but it remained on course to meet its annual profit guidance. (ID:nL5N10O0QV) ($1 = 0.9012 euros) (Reporting by Mansi Goenka in Bengaluru and Sarah Young in London,; Editing by Dan Grebler and Keith Weir)