LONDON (Alliance News) - The Court of Appeal has rejected Ryanair's challenge of a Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling that it must sell most of its 29% stake in Aer Lingus Group PLC, and refused permission for Ryanair to appeal to the supreme court.
The Competition and Markets Authority ruled that Ryanair's holding in Aer Lingus was anti-competitive, and required it to sell down its stake in the company to 5%.
Ryanair said it will now appeal the case to the UK Supreme Court, saying it "raises human rights issues of significant public importance, including the scope of protection offered to businesses by the right to property." It has also requested a formal review of the CMA of its final report, and a withdrawal of its call for Ryanair to sell its sake, in light of the recent offers from International Airlines Group for Aer Lingus.
IAG made a sweetened EUR1.36 billion bid for the Irish airline in January. IAG, which also owns Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling, raised its bid for Aer Lingus for a second time, and is now offering EUR2.55 a share in cash in total. That figure includes a cash dividend of EUR0.05 a share.
At that time Aer Lingus' board said it would be willing to recommend the bid.
Ryanair claims that the IAG's offers "fully disprove" the theories the final report was based on, proving that its shareholding is not a deterrent for merging or bidding for Aer Lingus.
Aer Lingus welcomed the court of appeal's decision, noting that it was the third time the court of appeal has "rejected Ryanair's attempts to derail the UK competition authorities' investigations and findings."
Shares in Ryanair are trading down 0.5% at 9.69 pence Thursday morning, Aer Lingus is up 1.5% at EUR2.21.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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International Airlines (IAG)