Ryanair in fresh takeover bid for Irish carrier Aer Lingus (1st Lead)

Dublin - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced a fresh bid to take over 100 per cent of privatized Irish national carrier Aer Lingus on Monday. Ryanair said in a statement that it was offering 1.40 euros (1.78 dollars) per share in Aer Lingus, which would value the airline at 748 million euros. It claimed the deal would would be worth 325 million euros in cash to shareholders, employees and the Irish government, which owns just over 25 per cent of the airline. The offer 'will lead to one strong Irish airline group, lower fares for customers, rapid fleet growth and 1,000 new jobs in Aer Lingus,' the statement said. 'It is a sensible strategy for Ireland,' Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary told US news channel CNBC. 'Ireland has changed,' he said. Just as the Irish government said it would merge banks to weather the global financial crisis, 'we feel we should put the two airlines together to make a strong national champion,' O'Leary said. He said only a merged airline would be able to compete with the large European carriers like Germany's Lufthansa and French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM. O'Leary said Ryanair would double the size of Aer Lingus' short- haul fleet from 33 to 66 aircraft over the next five years, which would create the jobs. Ryanair is a major shareholder in Aer Lingus with a 29.8-per-cent stake in the company. Aer Lingus reported a loss of 22.3 million euros for the first six months of 2008, down from a profit of 2.6 million euros in the same period of 2007, owing to the rise in the cost of fuel, the company said. The company is currently in dispute with its employees over a cost-cutting plan. Ryanair's previous offer from September 2006 to take over Aer Lingus was rejected by the European Commission as uncompetitive. It was also resisted by the Irish government, which had just floated the airline at the time. The 2006 offer is currently under appeal at the European Court of First Instance.