Aer Lingus will not appeal debate ruling

AER Lingus will not be appealing a decision by the Irish Takeover Panel to cancel a hotly anticipated head-to-head debate between its chief executive and Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary.

The airline executives were due to debate Ryanair’s hostile takeover bid for the state airline on RTÉ’s Prime Time last night but the Irish Takeover Panel (ITP) issued direction yesterday for the two not to participate in the programme as it would, it said be in breach of rules.

Both airlines are understood to be furious at the canceling of the debate.

Last night Aer Lingus said it had been looking forward to debating the issues and was disappointed at it being cancelled.

Aer Lingus said it would not be appealing the ruling but Ryanair said it may consider an appeal.

In a letter to RTÉ, the ITP said that it has advised the two executives not to appear on the show or any rescheduled programme at any time during the offer period.

“Participation by representatives of either Aer Lingus or Ryanair in the Prime Time programme would therefore result in a breach of the panel’s statutory direction to the parties,” the Takeover Panel said in the letter.

A letter from Ryanair advisor A&L Goodbody to Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, seen by the Irish Examiner, states that A&L Goodbody disagrees with the panel’s ruling. It said it believes the ruling is based on misinterpretation of the takeover rules.

It also said the ruling, & “fails to take account of the public’s and Aer Lingus’s shareholders right to be informed of the facts concerning such issues as the €2.8m compensation arrangements [for] Mr Mannion.”

When asked about the ruling the director general of the ITP, Micheal Ryan, had no comment to make other than giving direction to look at the note on Rule 19.6 of the takeover rules which states that “an offeror or the offeree... who, during the course of the offer, is interviewed in connection with the offer on radio or television shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure the sequence of the interview is not broken by the insertion of comments or observations by others which were not made in the course of the interview”.