Why would O'Leary make a pitch for EI at this stage?
Consider for a moment the Ryanair financial position. With a valuation of 3.5bn, and a debt of 1.8bn, they are suffering heavily from the economic downturn in Europe. They are also commited to taking a large number of new 737s in the next ten months with no option to offload them or older aircraft; again due to collapsing global markets.
If he were to get EI for €750m he would get immediate access to their cash reserves of over €800m, terminate the EI leases on their A320s and sell the 320s they own (the market for 320s remaining a lot stronger that the 737 market).
In one move he would eliminate the competition at his home base, strenghten his balance sheet and find work for his ever increasing fleet of parked 737s.
Failure to pull this off would result in a major financial problem for FR, as the large number of new aircarft arrive unable to pay their way and their own cash reserves get eaten up with repayments. It would not take long for a company which has built itself up with little capital to find the debt/equity ratio reach a position which is unsustainable, and unfundable.
The need for access to fresh cash along with an avenue to put the excess aircraft in the fleet to productive use is critical for FRs future.