Ryanair has said staff at Aer Lingus should accept its takeover offer or they will be facing a new "nightmare" era of competition, writes Emmet Oliver
Speaking in Dublin, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said that if its €1.4 billion bid failed, the future would be bleak for Aer Lingus and its staff. "Next year the Aer Lingus nightmare unfolds with Ryanair exploding all over them across Europe."
He said Ryanair was going to be massively increasing its services out of Dublin and the best chance for Aer Lingus was now to come within the Ryanair structure. "There is going to be blood on the carpet out of Dublin next year," he warned.
Mr O'Leary yesterday gave more details of Ryanair's bid, which now includes the option of receiving shares in Ryanair as an alternative to the original offer of €2.80 per share in cash. The share alternative would allow the employee trust that controls about 13 per cent of Aer Lingus distribute the proceeds of the sale to its 4,900 members tax free, he said.
The Ryanair chief executive admitted yesterday that his bid had little chance of succeeding without the backing of the employee share ownership trust or Esot. About 1,500 Esot members are no longer working in Aer Lingus.
Mr O'Leary said he hoped the Esot would fairly consider the offer, but Ryanair would "not go down on bended knee" to gain its support. For example, he said, job cuts would be required in catering, sales and marketing in the US and in clerical grades in Dublin.
He was speaking after outlining the contents of the Ryanair offer document which issues to shareholders this Monday.
He said if Ryanair's bid did not succeed, there would be very little chance for shareholders to exit with a profit. "Without our support for the existing share price, the price will fall significantly."
Mr O'Leary said while his company wanted full control of the airline, it was happy to remain a minority shareholder. However, if that situation arose, Ryanair would strongly oppose strategic decisions by the airline, including a new long-haul fleet deal with Airbus and the retention of a fuel surcharge.
During a passionate defence of Ryanair's €1.4 billion bid for Aer Lingus, Mr O'Leary strongly criticised a wide range of players in the takeover battle, including the Government, some stock market analysts, the media and Minister for Transport Martin Cullen. He also said he thought Denis O'Brien's 2.1 per cent stake would play no part in the ultimate conclusion of the takeover battle.