Ryanair OFT Court Ruling

UK COURT OF APPEAL STAYS THE OFT INVESTIGATION OF RYANAIR'S 29% MINORITY STAKE IN AER LINGUS

The UK Court of Appeal yesterday (Thu, 24 Nov) ordered a stay of the UK OFT's investigation into Ryanair's 29% minority stake in Aer Lingus, which was first acquired in 2006/2007 during Ryanair's failed merger offer for Aer Lingus. In September 2010 the OFT decided to investigate Ryanair's 5 year old minority stake in Aer Lingus. Ryanair challenged the OFT's jurisdiction on the basis that the OFT's investigation was "out of time". The OFT's investigation will now be suspended until the Court of Appeal rules on this "out of time" issue, following a full hearing of the case, which is scheduled for mid-2012.

Stephen McNamara Joe Carmody

Ryanair Ltd Edelman

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