FLS will invest "several million pounds" in the TEAM aircraft maintenance facility, its chief executive, Mr Steffen Harpoth, said yesterday.

He said once FLS takes over the group, it will immediately transfer work currently sub-contracted elsewhere to Dublin.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus told TEAM staff yesterday that the Heads of Agreement will be signed with FLS within two weeks. Those who have not accepted the £54.5 million offer to buy out their letters of guarantee will not be part of the Agreement.

At present around 83 per cent of staff have agreed to transfer to FLS by ceding their rights to be Aer Lingus employees and accepting the offer. Aer Lingus hopes around 90 per cent of staff will agree to transfer.

FLS which has recommenced the due diligence process expects to conclude the deal to buy the TEAM aircraft facility by the end of September. Mr Harpoth said yesterday he hoped 100 per cent of TEAM employees would vote to transfer to FLS.

However, he said he respected those who did not want to transfer. Last month he met TEAM union representatives and answered queries for them, as well as agreeing to pay workers who transferred to FLS a pay increase which had been frozen by Aer Lingus until November.

Mr Harpoth's intervention was seen as being influential in persuading more workers to accept the Aer Lingus deal. He acknowledged yesterday his intervention had had an influence, but said he would not do so again. He said there was a "very generous" package on offer and no more persuading was needed.

"If people do not feel they want to transfer to FLS, then they are right not to be persuaded. I respect that," he said.

FLS has been actively seeking to do a deal to buy TEAM since last year. Mr Harpoth said he was not surprised it had taken so long. "I fully understand the difficulties people have in changing to a new owner," he said.

Mr Harpoth said as soon as the deal was completed FLS will set up a working group with TEAM management to see what contracts can be diverted to the Irish operation. Around £25 million of FLS contracts are currently being subcontracted because FLS cannot handle the work.

He said the FLS facility in Britain was inundated with enquiries to take on work and had to refuse. "We are absolutely confident that once we take ownership of TEAM we can transfer these potential new contracts to Dublin," he said.