Ryanair chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, has made #35 million (£27.6 million) from the sale of three million Ryanair shares. The sale was part of a share placing by the airline to raise #151 million. The shares were placed at a price of #11.60 and were over-subscribed by investors.

Mr O'Leary may sell a further one million Ryanair shares within 30 days if an over-allotment option is exercised to meet investor demand. This would net him a further #11.6 million (£9.1 million). Ryanair will also sell one million shares under this option.

Mr O'Leary's remaining stake in the airline is worth more than #300 million.

An application will be made to the London Stock Exchange on February 14th for the shares to be admitted for trading. The shares have been taken up by existing and new institutional investors in the Republic, the UK and Continental Europe. European shareholders hold 52 per cent of Ryanair with the remaining 48 per cent held in the US. The airline had wanted to increase the ratio of European shareholders.

The placing was arranged by Morgan Stanley and Davy Stockbrokers. Goldman Sachs acted as co-lead manager.

Ryanair will use an estimated #116 million of the proceeds for investment in the airline, including the acquisition of 13 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

It is also interested in acquiring second-hand Boeing 737-300 or 737-400 aircraft, which may come on the market as other airlines switched to Airbus aircraft. Earlier this week Ryanair reported a 34 per cent rise in after-tax profits to #21.3 million in the three months to December 31st.