Irish carrier budget carrier Ryanair has increased its stake in takeover target Aer Lingus to over 25% after more shares were acquired on behalf of its Coinside subsidiary.
Ryanair, through Coinside, had already acquired a little over 19% of the carrier, but a stock market disclosure today shows that Davy Nominees on behalf of Coinside has acquired just under 31.8 million more shares.
This takes to 133.4 million the number of Aer Lingus shares now controlled by affiliates of Davy Corporate Finance, giving it a 25.22% stake in the Irish flag-carrier.
Ryanair’s hopes of taking control of Aer Lingus took a major hit earlier this month when the Aer Lingus Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT) – which controls a near-13% stake in the airline – voted against the takeover offer. Ryanair has set a 4 December deadline for Aer Lingus to accept its bid and has ruled out raising its offer.
Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary had previously said its bid was unlikely to succeed if the ESOT voted against the offer, but had also said the airline would remain a “vocal” shareholder in the airline.
Source: Flight Daily News
