Statements made by Irish budget carrier Ryanair in its Aer Lingus takeover document, issued to shareholders last month, have been ruled as breaching regulations by Ireland's competition watchdog.
Ryanair claimed its offer would mean Aer Lingus employees, who own close to 13% of the flag-carrier through the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), would realise over €220 million ($281.7 million), equating to an average of more than €60,000 per employee.
But the Irish Takeover Panel says that the claim was not backed up with sufficient factual evidence and, therefore, breached rules.
“While some of the assumptions underpinning the figures in the statement are set out in the announcement, the panel decided that sufficient detail on the assumptions underpinning the figures in the statement was not disclosed,” it notes.
“Consequently, Aer Lingus shareholders were provided with insufficient detail to enable them to assess the significance of this statement.”
The notice goes on to say that, according to ESOT, an acceptance of Ryanair’s offer would provide employee members of the trust with an average of €38,864 each, while ex-employee members would each receive €13,915.
ESOT is scheduled to vote on whether to accept Ryanair’s offer in the next two weeks. However, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has already conceded that the employee group is unlikely to accept.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
