RYANAIR HAS lost a bid to block the UK’s competition watchdog from investigating its stake in rival carrier Aer Lingus.
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled yesterday that the Office of Fair Trading was not “out of time” when it launched a review of Ryanair’s minority stake in Aer Lingus four years after the shares were bought.
Ryanair, which owns 29.8 per cent of Aer Lingus, said it would appeal the ruling “immediately”.
The OFT announced it was beginning an investigation last October on competition grounds, prompting Ryanair to assert that it was “legally out of time” to do so.
In 2006 Ryanair acquired a stake in Aer Lingus and then mounted a public bid for the airline, but in June 2007 the European Commission blocked the takeover. Sheldon Mills, director of mergers at the OFT, welcomed the ruling and said it provided important clarification of the scope of UK merger control law.
“We opened an investigation into Ryanair’s minority stake in Aer Lingus because it may raise competition concerns and harm UK consumers,” Mr Mills said. “We commenced an investigation once we were able to do so.”
Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said the ruling throws UK merger regulation into disarray. “Now instead of the certainty that the OFT must act within four months of a European Commission decision, it appears that the OFT can wait for up to nine years,” he said.
Aer Lingus welcomed the decision, and chief executive Christoph Mueller called on the OFT to recommence its investigation as soon as possible.