FL Group ups stake in easyJet |
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Thu, 27 Oct 2005 07:35
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LONDON: FL Group of Iceland has hiked its stake in British budget airline easyJet Plc to 16.2 per cent from the current 15 per cent, the second increase in a span of a day, amid speculation that the company is planning a bid on the airline.
FL Group, which owns Icelandair, has acquired easyJet's shares in the market after the price slid in the wake of the bird flu scare. It first hiked the holding on Monday through purchases and again on Tuesday. It has already bought Nordic low-cost airline Sterling Airlines for 1.5 billion DKR.
The British airline, in a statement to the London Stock Exchange, said Icelandair now holds 64.8 million shares, having bought 4.4 million shares Tuesday. Earlier, on Monday, it had purchased four million shares.
A spokesperson for easyJet's founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou said he and his family have no intention of selling the airline. Haji-Ioannou has 16.6 per cent share of easyJet, while his brother and sister own about 12 per cent each. The company has a market value of around 1.2 billion pounds.
FL Group, with the two airlines in operation, has added 46 new destinations to Icelandair's 22. But it is still behind easyJet and Ryanair. Its chairman Hannes Smarason had in August played down the chances of a bid for the British airline.
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