Ryanair has accepted the offer from British Airways parent company IAG to buy its 29.8 per cent stake in Aer Lingus.
The Ryanair board voted unanimously to agree to the offer, which now paves the way for the €1.4 billion takeover to go ahead. After receiving the green light from the Aer Lingus board, the Irish Government and now Ryanair, IAG now only needs European Union approval.
Speaking in a statement, Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary said: “We believe the IAG offer for Aer Lingus is a reasonable one in the current market and we plan to accept it, in the best interests of Ryanair shareholders.”
He said Ryanair would vote in favour of the proposal, subject to approval from European competition authorities. The airline is expected to make a samll profit on its investment into Aer Lingus over the nine year period, during which it made a number of takeover attempts.
Recently, a British competition committee had ordered Ryanair to cut its stake in Aer Lingus to just five per cent.
