Ryanair boss raises £30m from shares sale

Massive demand for shares has enabled Ryanair and its founder, Michael O'Leary, to sell an extra million shares each at 11.60 euros (equivalent to nearly £7.43) per share.

The share offer was more than four times oversubscribed.

Mr O'Leary has raised nearly £30 million in total from this sale of shares but still holds 26 million shares, a 7.16% stake in the budget airline.

The latest sale means that he has raised around £56 million in the past two years from selling shares in the airline.

But he denies that his share-selling means he lacks commitment to the airline, explaining that it makes more sense to spread his investments.

On Friday, Ryanair announced it had raised 116 million euros (the equivalent of £73.7 million on that date) from a placing of 10 million shares at 11.60 euros (then £7.37) each.

In addition, O'Leary sold three million Ryanair shares at 11.60 euros, raising 35 million euros (or £22.2 million given the exchange rate then).

Morgan Stanley & Co and Davy Stockbrokers acted as joint lead managers of the offering and Goldman Sachs acted as a co-lead manager.