Ryanair offers €694m for Aer Lingus

Ryanair has made a surprise cash offer to buy out Aer Lingus, just a day after Britain’s competition commission began a full investigation into Ryanair’s 29.8% holding in the airline.

Ryanair has offered €1.30 per share, slightly less than the €1.40 per share offered in a 2008 takeover bid. The offer places an overall value of approximately €694m on the former national airline.

Ryanair chief executive Micheal O’Leary said the offer represents good value for Aer Lingus’s shareholders, and would keep control of Aer Lingus in Ireland.