Ryanair has asked a London court to block a UK regulator’s probe into its 30 per cent stake in Aer Lingus, saying it overlaps a new European Union review.
Ryanair’s lawyer David Pannick said at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London that the UK Competition Commission’s investigation of the minority stake acquired six years ago violated the jurisdiction of the EU.
The EU is considering the antitrust ramifications of the bid by Europe’s biggest discount airline to buy the rest of Aer Lingus for €694 million.
Mr Pannick told a panel of three judges that there’s a “fundamental overlap” because “each of the two regulators are going to be looking at essentially the same factors”.
The European Commission has exclusive jurisdiction.
Ryanair has been fighting with regulators since acquiring the Aer Lingus shares in 2006 as part of an earlier takeover bid that the EU ultimately blocked on competition grounds.
A claim by Aer Lingus that Ryanair made the bid for full control in order to delay or hinder the agency’s investigation of the minority stake is inaccurate, Mr Pannick said.
“The current bid is being presented because Ryanair takes the view it has good prospects of persuading the European Commission to let that bid proceed, in light of changes in circumstances since the last offer,” Mr Pannick said.