Ryanair admits defeat over Aer Lingus bid
Ryanair has conceded defeat over its hostile bid for Aer Lingus after the Irish Government said it would not support it.
The low-cost airline said it was disappointed it could not satisfy its 90% acceptance condition, but said it would “respect and abide†by the decision.
The Government, which owns 25% of Aer Lingus, said Ryanair’s €1.40 a share all-cash offer “greatly undervalues Aer Lingus and a merger on the basis proposed would be likely to have a significant negative impact on competition in the market”.
“Because we live on an island Irish consumers depend very heavily on air transport. A monopoly in this area would not be in the best interests of Irish consumers,” explained Transport Minister Noel Dempsey.
In a statement today, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “We don’t think it is in the best interests of Aer Lingus, which will be isolated as a small, peripheral, loss making airline, reduced to announcing so called ‘partnerships’ with other loss makers like United Airlines.
“It is strange, when the Irish Government is looking for €2bn in cost savings, that it would reject an offer of €188m for its 25% stake in Aer Lingus.
“It is also sad, when thousands of jobs are being lost in Ireland, that Ryanair’s offer to create 1,000 new Irish jobs in Aer Lingus over the next five years has been rejected.â€
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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