Stelios rules out selling easyJet stake
EasyJet founder and chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou today ruled out selling his stake in the airline to Icelandair or taking it private.
Mr Haji-Ioannou told the chairman of Icelandair, Hannes Smarasen, that going private or selling part or all of his stake were not options he was considering at the moment.
Icelandair has taken a 10.1% holding in the Luton-based budget carrier, in which Mr Haji-Ioannou already holds a 16% stake.
In a letter to the chairman of easyJet, Sir Colin Chandler, following a meeting with Mr Smarasen on Wednesday, Mr Haji-Ioannou said: “I explained to him (Mr Smarasen) that I am an insider to easyJet and that I would not be able to discuss matters which are not already in the public domain.
“The rest of the discussion centred around my already published views on matters like going private and/or selling down or out, neither of which is an option I am considering at the moment.
“I also explained that because I own the easy brand privately and license it to the airline, I would not exit from easyJet Plc, as the brand is a key component of my overall easyGroup expansion plans.
“I also reminded him that for as long as I own 10% of the stock, I have the right to be chairman.”
Mr Haji-Ioannou said he and Mr Smarasen had agreed to stay in touch “from time to time”.
“I thanked him for the confidence in easyJet Plc and congratulated him on the timing of his investment,” he added.
Shares in easyJet rose more than 1% or 2.25p to 179.75p today amid talk that Icelandair was trying to raise its stake in the airline as a forerunner to a possible bid.
Mr Smarasen reportedly said in a media interview that the company needed to look further afield than Iceland in order to grow.
