A Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus presents a "unique opportunity to form one strong airline group for Irish and European consumers", Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told a hastily convened press conference.
Mr O'Leary said his company's offer of €2.80 a share should be embraced readily by Government and staff shareholdings. Asked if it was possible the offer would be turned down, he replied: "Anyone who turns it down would not be acting logically or sensibly."
Flanked by Ryanair board member and deputy chairman of Davy Stockbrokers Kyran McLaughlin and Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley, Mr O'Leary denied the offer was a gimmick or mischief-making. "I could find much cheaper ways to fund mischief," he quipped.
The Ryanair offer puts a value of €1.4 billion on Aer Lingus and Mr O'Leary said this would work out at about €60,000 per employee. "If accepted the Irish government will realise over €500 million from the sale of their Aer Lingus shares and the employees will realise €220 million which equates to an average of over 60,000 employee," he commented.
He said Ryanair would be "more than happy" for the Government to remain on as significant minority shareholders. He said the airline's cash balances were currently on deposit earning interest of about 3.5 per cent, whereas putting its money into Aer Lingus would result in a yield of 5 per cent.
He said the two airlines would be run separately and the Aer Lingus brand would be retained. He said he envisaged seeing the Aer Lingus management staying on, although they would be assisted by Ryanair management.
Mr O'Leary said the airline business in Europe was becoming increasingly made up of "mega carriers" like Air France/KLM and Lufthansa/SAS/Swiss and British Airways/Iberia. "This deal would put the Irish up there with the big boys," said Mr O'Leary.
He denied that Ryanair management would be distracted by having a major shareholding in Aer Lingus and said it would continue to do everything to double the size of Ryanair itself. He said long-haul operations would remain secondary to Ryanair despite the acquisition and Aer Lingus would develop that part of the business. He claimed Ryanair would not be departing from the Aer Lingus business plan.
