Clearly you have little understading of what "beancounters" (as you so disparagingly call us) also have up their sleeve as products in their firms - namely M&A advisory as well - the same as the investment banks.
Advice? 16.2M for a few weeks 'work'. Beats digging ditches.
You are utterly incorrect - the document is not simply a check-box requirement with the takeover panel - it is entirely aimed at the floating voters - many of whom were influenced by the plans (certainly not a "few" - who do you think the employee trust purchased the shares from? God?).
The ESOT was allocated shares as part of the IPO. Didn't you know that?
No 'floaters' or deities were required.
Clearly, the actions of the advisors is totally alien to you - let me explain in that case. These guys are working a minimum of 90 hours per week,
Hah! POOR DEARS! I guess the million quid bonus eases the pain....
trying to find hidden value in the business so that it can survive independently,
They were supposed to do that as part of the flotation - but they screwed it up.
and marketing the business to those who purchased large chunks of share capital in support of management during this episode (a certain Irish investor comes to mind, along with many others).
That 'Irish Investor' you speak of has an agenda which is unlikely to be swayed by the slobberings of a bunch of discredited merchant bankers.
On top of this, they are delivering advice to management on a daily basis, helping the directors to understand what actions to take, what messages to convey, and to whom else they should call on support if Ryanair have a realistic chance of a takeover.
How did they EVER manage without them?
Then comes a huge process of reviewing projections, tearing them apart, re-forecasting with greater knowledge, challenging management assumptions and attempting to place the business on an even more stable footing: those 16.2m euros of fees could potentially have added another 100m+ to the market capitalisation purely through a few insights generated by a couple of PhDs in Goldman Sachs.
Is Aer Lingus being run by Goldman Sachs then? Thats a damning indictment of Mr.Mannion and his team!
By the way - give me some evidence of the 100M added to the company by the touts, please.
Now, take a look at the free float of Aer Lingus, plus the fund managers who own shares as well - whose support has to be shored up - along with other non-strategic holdings...apart for the government of Ireland and the employee shares, the remainder (a large amount more than a "few floating voters") amounts to a huge task.
The free float is about 3.5%. 16.2M would've sucked up a good part of that if spent more judiciously.
Justifying large fees? I don't think you really understand - fees are calculated on hours worked and a very thin slice of additional worth created (perhaps less than 0.5%).
Who cares
how they calculate it - it's still outrageous! 16.2M for a few weeks work!
I don't really see how you can complain too much about "employee pain" if you are indeed an employee who owns shares - the benefit flows back to you through the worth of those shares instead.
You may find this hard to grasp - but believe it or not, many people do not live their lives trying to grab a quick buck at any cost - unlike your ilk.
The really interesting aspect of your long-winded diatribe is the utter self-obsession of the Corporatist mindset you labour under. The total absence of any sense of real personal accountability in your profession is betrayed in the scandals that occur with such regular monotony. Should I list them?
Every pilot on this forum is required to accept and uphold a responsibility of the most demanding and unforgiving nature. Unlike you, there is no walking away from disasters, or blathering excuses to cover up incompetence And Greed.
Of course, if you are a communist, simply tell us to save the argument...
I'm a Socialist, since you ask. And a Union Member.