Ryanair set to extend deadline for €2.80 offer

RYANAIR is today expected to announce it will extend the deadline for acceptance of its €2.80 per share offer for Aer Lingus until after November 22, the day the Employee Share Option Trust (ESOT) ballot is due to be completed.

ESOT accounts for 12.6% of the equity and its support for the bid is thought to be crucial if the offer is to have any chance of success.

Ryanair will also announce how much backing it got for the bid from other shareholders in the group, which commentators expect will be less than the required 50.1%. The deadline for acceptance closed at 3pm yesterday.

Ryanair — which has a 19.2% stake in the former State-owned carrier — is facing an uphill struggle to get control of the airline with the Government, the largest shareholder in Aer Lingus with a 25.7% holding, hostile to the bid.

The company’s pilots and its pension fund have amassed a combined 5% holding and are against the offer, as is telecoms entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, who has a 2.1% stake.

If Ryanair fails to get over 50.1% acceptance for its offer, it can ask the Irish Takeover Panel to extend the offer period, to allow time for the ESOT to vote its intentions.