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Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the outspoken founder of easyJet, has denied rumours that he is ready to sell the low-cost airline as speculation mounts about an imminent takeover by an Icelandic group.
Shares in the Luton-based airline have soared in recent days on the back of reports suggesting that the Icelandic FL group, which currently owns 16.2 per cent of the airline, is poised to launch a bid for overall control.
On Monday, the airline confirmed that it had appointed Goldman Sachs as its chief financial adviser, in a move widely interpreted as suggesting expectation of an imminent bid, given the banking group’s reputation for tough defence against hostile bids.
And news that FL group had recently raised £728 million by issuing new shares on the Icelandic stock exchange, without declaring its intended use for the revenues raised by the share sale, served to heighten speculation.
However, the ebullient Greek tycoon has today spoken out publicly to deny the takeover rumours, stressing that he has no intention of selling his stake in the airline.
‘This is a multi-shareholder company. Forty per cent belongs to my family, but 60 per cent belongs to other people,’ he told BBC Radio Five Live.
‘Therefore you have to take the view that if someone makes an offer for the company, you consider it seriously and see whether it values the company fairly, or it undervalues the company.
‘Personally at the moment, I think the levels at which the shares have been trading, in the past that would seriously undervalue the company, and probably still undervalue the company significantly. So I am not a seller.’
Despite reports suggesting that he values the airline at 500p per share, Mr Haji-Ioannou declined to disclose how much he would be willing to accept for the airline.
”I have been saying for a while [that I am not a seller], and people just don’t believe it. So it would be foolish of me to give a level at which I would sell at,’ he added.
Although easyJet is still lagging behind market leader and main rival Ryanair, the no-frills airline nevertheless enjoyed an extremely successful 2005.
The low-cost airline saw passenger numbers break the 30 million barrier for the first time last year, carrying 30.3 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 17.8 per cent.
Rising passenger numbers helped to drive unaudited revenues up by 20.5 per cent to £1.38 billion, with load factor – the proportion of seats sold – also rising marginally to 84.9 per cent over the year.
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