Market ‘confident’ Aer Lingus bid will be approved

The stock market believes it is almost certain that the Government will give its clearance to IAG to formally bid for Aer Lingus in the coming weeks, a leading analyst has said.

Stephen Furlong of Davy Stockbrokers said that Aer Lingus shares trading at €2.40 is “a very strong signal” that the market believes IAG will complete the acquisition of Aer Lingus. He said the Aer Lingus share price would collapse “all the way below €2” if the deal were to stumble for some unforeseen reason at this time.

The Coalition was being ultra-careful in dealing with any possible political issues, but there would be enormous surprise if the Government’s advisers in their report were not to endorse the deal, Mr Furlong said.