Posted this in the "rumours" section beforen being told there is a thread here:
Various serious German media are reporting that Ryanair is interested in a share in Germany's AirBerlin. It is supposed to be interested in the 10.8% of the total shares that Deutsche Bank is holding.
Background: After the takeover of rival scheduled carrier DBA and scheduled + charter carrier LTU, AB is now Germany's 2nd largest airline.
AB also acquired a 50% stake in Swiss carrier BelAir, therefore not only owning long-range planes (330) and rights through LTU but also through BelAir ex Switzerland. Joint fleet of the group: Approx. 90 planes of which approx. 15-20 are long-range.
Ryanair declined any comment, AB stated that they don't know - which might even be true as according to German law an institutional investor such as Deutsche Bank is not obliged to notifiy the company when it is negotiating with a potential buyer.