Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline and parent company of Laudamotion, wants to get rid of UK shareholders over a share buyback in the event of an unregulated exit from the EU. A „tough“ Brexit would have a small majority of non-EU shareholders, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said today.
The airline would then simultaneously restrict the rights of non-EU shareholders and repurchase shares so that these investors could sell their shares. The background of the plan is an EU rule according to which airlines within the EU are only allowed to operate on flights when they are majority owned by EU state or private owners.
EasyJet with similar plans
Likewise, easyJet has decided as a precautionary measure to prohibit the sale of shares to investors outside the EU. The share of EU owners was at the British low-cost carrier recently at 49 percent.
The British-Spanish aviation company IAG was prepared for a „hard“ Brexit, because within the EU fly mainly the daughters Iberia and Vueling from Spain. Iberia is majority owned by Spaniards as British Airways has been majority owned since the merger of the two airlines in 2011.
