Stobart confirms sale of Stobart Air to Connect Group consortium

(Sharecast News) - Stobart Group confirmed on Friday that the sale and purchase agreement by which its wholly-owned subsidiary Stobart Aviation was disposing of of its shares in Everdeal Holdings, through which it owns Stobart Air had become unconditional.The FTSE 250 firm also confirmed that the agreement under which it disposed of its entire holding in Propius had also become unconditional.Both firms were being sold to Connect Group - the consortium which includes Stobart, and which is buying ailing regional carrier Flybe.Stobart Air currently operates flights under franchise to the Flybe group, while Propius is an airline leasing firm."In line with Connect Airways' announcement on 11 January, the combination of Stobart Air and Propius with Connect Airways is expected to bring benefits to customers, suppliers and employees, providing stability in a tough trading environment."Stobart holds 30% of the Connect Airways consortium, with Virgin Atlantic also holding 30%, and the remaining capital held by Cyrus Capital Partners.Connect's acquisition of the Flybe Group was completed on Thursday, with its operations set to be rebranded under the Virgin Atlantic brand.A competing last-minute offer for Flybe, from a consortium involving US regional carrier Mesa Air, was rejected by Flybe earlier in the week.