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Ryanair makes formal E694m A Lin bid

Tuesday, July 17 12:28:15

Ryanair this morning made a formal bid offer for that part of Aer Lingus it doesn't already own for E1.30 per share, which would put the total offer at E694m.

The no-frills airline currently owns 29.8pc of Aer Lingus and previously said that the chances of clearing antitrust hurdles have been boosted by mergers among other European carriers, falling traffic in Dublin that leaves room for new entrants and Irish government plans to auction its own 25pc Aer Lingus stake.

"In six years as a public company, Aer Lingus has failed to deliver value," Ryanair chief executive officer Michael O'Leary said in a letter accompanying the bid document, adding that the smaller carrier has incurred cumulative losses of E91 million during that period.

Aer Lingus traded 1.4pc higher at E1.07 as of 10:52am in Dublin, where both carriers are based, taking the gain this year to 69pc.

That's still 23 cents below the offer price and values the carrier at E568 million. Ryanair, which built its stake in 2006 and 2007 and is making the new bid via wholly-owned subsidiary Coinside Ltd, was little changed at E4.14.

The company has a market value of E5.96 billion and has advanced 14pc this year.