The
independent.ie's new comment on the FR bid to acquire Aer Lingus:
With the previously united front of shareholders and management who had opposed the Ryanair bid now hopelessly split and Mannion's position looking more vulnerable with every passing day, the likelihood must be that an increased Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus will prevail.
Which is very bad news for Ryanair shareholders. Yes, Aer Lingus has over €800m of cash on its balance sheet, but it also has one of the bolshiest workforces in the country. While Ryanair, its promise to recognise the Aer Lingus trade unions notwithstanding, would no doubt hope to convert the Aer Lingus workforce to its lean, mean, non-union way of doing things, what are the odds on the reverse happening?
Aer Lingus would be a poison pill for Ryanair. It needs the aggro of sorting out Aer Lingus about as much as it needs a hole in the head. The sooner the comrades can be persuaded to start singing from the same hymn sheet again, the better -- for Ryanair that is.