Doubt has been cast on the future of the former TEAM Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport, after the controlling shareholders of its parent, FLS Industries, indicated they wanted to exit the business.
The group's aircraft maintenance subsidiary, FLS Aerospace, has been on the market since March, but a prospective sale was cancelled after the September 11th attacks on the US.
FLS's holding company, Potagua, said in a statement to the Copenhagen stock exchange that it wanted to sell its 46 per cent interest in the aerospace and cement conglomerate. Potagua controls more than 60 per cent of board votes at FLS. Potagua said its three representatives on the FLS board - including two joint chairmen - would resign, indicating that a shake-out of the business was likely.
Given the attempts to sell FLS Aerospace this year, Potagua's decision to offload its shares marks a second bid by the group's principal shareholders to divest parts of the group in less than a year.
Informed sources said the decision to sell the shareholding was linked to the poor performance of the group. Its stock has steadily declined from more than 250 krone (€33.69) in 1997 to trade at around 70 krone late this year.
The statement said Potagua would sell "provided this is possible on satisfactory terms". It is thought the company wants a quick sale, as its chairmen and director on the FLS board said they would resign in April.
An FLS Aerospace spokeswoman in Dublin said she was not empowered to answer questions about the sale. Attempts to reach a group spokesman in Copenhagen failed.
The aircraft maintenance subsidiary company, employing 1,600 in Dublin, is thought to be only marginally profitable.
In addition, managers want to reduce the staff by 150 due to a trading slump following the attacks on the US. It is seeking to introduce a voluntary redundancy package, but mandatory redundancies are considered likely if take- up is low.
It is believed that a "drastic turnaround process" initiated in 1999 was geared at preparing the sale of FLS Aerospace.
That process was almost successful, but a tentative agreement to sell the subsidiary to the US group United Technologies was abandoned after September 11th.
Sources say Singapore Airlines had expressed interest in the company early in the sale process but rumours that it had renewed its interest after the collapse of the United Technologies deal proved groundless.
The spokeswoman in Dublin said the company was not at present involved in investment talks. Potagua said in a statement that it "will not be the ideal majority shareholder". The holding company is controlled by figures linked to families who established the original FLS operations in the 1800s.
