O’Leary swoops to net €24m in share deal
A spokesman would not comment on the deal saying it was a private matter but speculation is rife the airline magnate is cashing in before his upcoming wedding.
Company director Declan Ryan, son of the airline's founder Tony Ryan, was also €24 million richer yesterday after selling the same number of shares. Both sold four million shares at €5.95 each.
Mr O'Leary, who is said to be Ireland's tenth richest-man with a fortune of around €500m, has been uncharacteristically quiet about his upcoming nuptials to banker Anita Farrell.
He is extending his Gigginstown Georgian mansion by building a leisure centre, swimming pool and new courtyard.
The Westmeath-dwelling cattle farmer has been a regular seller of shares since the company was floated and has now made around €200m through the deals.
Just last week, the cut-price airline said its profits had soared 60% to €240m.
Yesterday's shares sale follows the same pattern as last year when Mr O'Leary pulled in €47m by selling another tranche of his shareholding in the airline after the results were published.
Last year, three members of the Ryan family Cathal, Declan and their father Tony made nearly €17m each from the sale of shares.
Even after the sale, Mr O'Leary still holds €41 million shares in Ryanair, worth €244m at current prices.
This is the fifth occasion on which he has sold stock but he remains the largest individual shareholder in the company with around 5.4% of the company.
Davy Stockbrokers and investment bank Morgan Stanley handled the sale of the eight million shares. This represented about 1% of the shares in issue.
Ryanair is the world's third biggest passenger airline by share value with a market capitalisation of $5 billion.
The company's shares closed yesterday at €5.97, down from €6.10 the previous day.
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