Next bid for Aer Lingus : when ?

by atoutprix Tue 28 May 2013 - 9:15

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/aer-lingus-challenges-ruling-giving-ryanair-all-clear-for-new-bid-in-august-232584.html

Extract :

Aer Lingus has launched a High Court challenge against a ruling by the Irish Takeover Panel that could allow Ryanair to make another bid for the national carrier by August of this year.
The action arises out of Ryanair’s failed €694m bid to win control of Aer Lingus. That offer was formally tabled in late Jul 2012.

Last week, the Irish Takeover Panel ruled that if Ryanair decides to make another offer for Aer Lingus, it must wait until August of this year, 12 months after the bid was first tabled.

The panel, which is the body responsible for monitoring and supervising takeovers and other relevant transactions in relevant companies in Ireland, prohibits bidders from making a further offer for a public company within a year of the date on which their original offer has lapsed.

Aer Lingus disputes that ruling.

It says that the 12-month period starts from February of this year, when the EU Commission decided to block Ryanair’s offer.

Yesterday, when the matter was briefly mentioned before the High Court, Paul Sreenan SC, for Aer Lingus, said his client wants to have the Takeover Panel’s decision judicially reviewed.