Flybe sale to Connect Airways complete

By February 22, 2019 January 16th, 2020 General News

The sale of regional airline Flybe to Connect Airways, a consortium made up of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital has been completed.

Flybe confirmed the successful completion of the sale to Connect Airways on 21 February, stating on Twitter: “Today’s confirmation of the sale of Flybe to Connect Airways secures an exciting future for our customers and employees as we continue to provide vital regional connectivity in the UK and beyond.”

Connect Airways now owns Flybe’s assets and operations, and Flybe flights will continue to operate as normal.

Following the completion of the sale, Flybe Group is now a non-trading entity with no subsidiaries or material assets other than the limited cash received under the agreement to cover transaction, residual and rundown costs of the company.

The separate recommended cash offer by Connect Airways for the shares of Flybe remains conditional on the approval of Flybe shareholders. Flybe directors “strongly” advised shareholders to vote in favour of the scheme. If the scheme is not approved, Flybe directors said they intend to take steps to wind-up Flybe Group plc.

The agreement between Flybe and Connect Airways was announced in January.

A last minute entry

Earlier in the week, Flybe confirmed it had turned down a last-minuted proposal  from an investor group led by Bateleur Capital, Mesa Air Group (which provides regional air service for American Airlines and United Airlines) and with indicative support from Andrew Tinkler, for a capital injection and replacement of funding provided by Connect Airways.