TERAPROOF:User:johntynanDate:20/06/2012Time:00:33:06Edition:20/06/2012ExaminerLiveXX2006Page:
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13 IRISH CAMPSITES REVIEWED
MICROSOFT TAKES ON THE iPAD
FEATURES: 14&15
NEWS: 3
SPORT: 19
No. 59,073
www.irishexaminer.com
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Ryanair offers €694m for Aer Lingus
TRAP EYES BRIGHTER FUTURE
Gearing up for a cheeky record attempt
Ryanair has made a surprise cash offer to buy out Aer Lingus, just a day after Britain’s competition commission began a full investigation into Ryanair’s 29.8% holding in the airline. Ryanair has offered €1.30 per share, slightly less than the €1.40 per share offered in a 2008 takeover bid. The offer places an overall value of approximately €694m on the former national airline. Ryanair chief executive Micheal O’Leary said the offer represents good value for Aer Lingus’s shareholders, and would keep control of Aer Lingus in Ireland. “We believe that Ryanair’s offer of €1.30 now offers Aer Lingus’s long-suffering shareholders a real and meaningful return which represents a 38.3% premium to its closing price of €0.94 on Tuesday, 19 June, 2012,” said Mr O’Leary. “It allows the Irish Government to deliver the first of its assets sale obligations to the troika, and it enables Aer Lingus to secure a financially strong, Irish-based, airline partner committed to keeping Aer Lingus as a separate airline while developing the Aer Lingus brand and business.” An Aer Lingus spokesperson said the airline was not commenting on the offer. The main obstacle to any takeover would be the European Commission, which investigated an earlier Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus and decided to block it in Jun 2007. Ryanair has stated it would be willing to address any concerns held by the commission prior to completing a bid. The budget airline said that the increase in capacity at Dublin Airport, the consolidation of airlines across Europe, and the Government’s commitment to the
troika to sell its stake in Aer Lingus resulted in a different set of circumstances. The most significant development, Ryanair stated, was the consolidation of the two largest airlines operating out of Heathrow. The green light for IAG’s (BA and Iberia) takeover of BMI paves the way for Ryanair to attempt a similar move in acquiring Aer Lingus. However, an analyst with NCB Stockbrokers, Brian Devine, said the deal was unlikely to be approved. “It is very hard to see how it would be accepted by European competition authorities,” said Mr Devine. Ryanair may even be able to gain a 50% controlling stake in Aer Lingus without having to buy the Government’s 25% holding. The employee share ownership trust was disbanded in 2010 and its shares, representing 15% of Aer Lingus, were distributed to members. Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said the Government would have to study the offer before making any comment. Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley urged the Government to prevent Ryanair’s takeover, saying it would harm competitiveness. “The existence of Ryanair and Aer Lingus as separate competing entities has transformed our tourism and business connectivity,” said Mr Dooley. “Any material change to the separate status of these airlines would inevitably lead to reduced competition, increased fares and less choice.” Meanwhile, Aer Lingus maintenance workers at Shannon Airport are to ask colleagues at Dublin and Cork airports to support a ballot for “protective action” over plans to sell off the Shannon hangar and impose redundancies.
WORLD Own goal Eamon Dunphy proves to be the biggest clown after football prediction goes wrong. Page: 2
WORLD INDEX SUDOKU..................... 2 14&15 Mubarak ‘dead’ FEATURES.......... BUSINESS ............16-18
There were conflicting reports last night that former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak had died. Page: 11
SPORT .................19-28 ADVERTS ................. 30 TV...................... 31&32 DEATHS ................... 33
People before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett questioned how anybody could say Europe had had a good month and suggested Mr Noonan was living on a different planet. Separately, Taoiseach Enda Kenny acknowledged further referenda were likely if the EU moved towards potential solutions such as closer fiscal integration. “If you proceed down the end road of fiscal union, clearly there are implications for new treaties,” he said.
Croke Park has condemned the racist abuse of Wexford county star Lee Chin in a club championship game. Two members of the Duffy Rovers team were banned for two months each following incidents in their defeat to Mr Chin’s side, Sarsfields, in April. Mr Chin, wing-back on the side which defeated Longford in the Leinster SFC quarter-final replay on June 10, was left shocked by the attack. Last night, Croke Park issued a statement expressing dismay at the treatment of the dual star. “The GAA condemns Lee Chin: Dual star ‘shocked’. activity such as the recent incident investigated by the Wexford County Board. “We are an anti-sectarian, anti-racist association and our games are open to people of all backgrounds. “There is no room for behaviour of this nature and it flies in the face of our respect initiative, our inclusion and integration strategy, and the work overseen by our full-time national inclusion officer.” Mr Chin has been named on the Wexford team to play Kilkenny in tonight’s Leinster U21 hurling championship semi-final in Nowlan Park.
BUSINESS: 17
GAA: 19
Cork Bodypainting Group surprised a motorist yesterday. Exhibitionists and artists are expected in Cork City next month in a bid to break the world record for the most bodies painted. The record is 264. Contact corkbodypaintingguinnessrecord@gmail.com to take part. Picture: Jim Coughlan
Noonan: No bailout deal before end of summer by Paul O’Brien Political Editor There will be no deal on lowering the €47bn cost of the Anglo bailout before the end of summer, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has admitted. Securing a deal would be a “medium-term exercise” and the Government would “be pushing very hard in the autumn,” he said. Despite no immediate prospect of a deal and the eurozone debt crisis worsening in recent weeks, Mr Noonan said Europe had had “a pretty good month”. His comments were met with raised eyebrows from TDs, who pointed out that Spain had sought a bailout and Italy could be next. Mr Noonan admitted that his comments could be viewed as “provocative”, but cited four reasons for saying it had been a good month: ■ Ireland’s approval of the fiscal treaty; ■ Spain finally accepting it need-
ed a bailout after spending a long time “in denial”; ■ The election of parties in Greece that would stick to, rather than rip up, the country’s bailout; ■ French president François Hollande winning a majority in the parliamentary elections, strengthening his hand as he pushes a pro-growth agenda. Mr Noonan said the crisis could have been “a lot worse” if any of those four outcomes had gone the opposite way. He said the problems of member states could no longer be viewed in isolation and what was needed now was a comprehensive eurozone solution. Mr Noonan acknowledged proposals for a European “banking union” had developed Michael Noonan: “at pace” in ‘A good month.’ recent weeks.
The proposals call for common banking supervision, an integrated guarantee scheme for depositors, as well as a dedicated resolution fund to bail out failing banks. Mr Noonan stressed that Ireland would agree to a banking union only if the resolution fund was applied retrospectively to deal with Ireland’s bank debt. There was “not much” point contributing to such a fund if Ireland could not benefit from it. Mr Noonan stressed that, contrary to “folklore”, he has repeatedly asked the ECB for a writedown of Ireland’s bank debt, but that the institution had refused. The ECB’s position had only hardened since he first asked in Mar 2011, he said.
Sports-mad children ‘face hip problems in their 40s’ by Dan Buckley Children who train intensively or play multiple sports could experience hip problems as early as their 40s, a leading orthopaedic surgeon has warned. Dr Patrick Carton said there was growing evidence linking regular participation in competitive sports among children as young as eight and hip problems in later life. “Because of increasing demands and stresses from more and more training sessions being placed on the hip joints at all underage levels, it is expected there will be a major increase in hip-related injury and joint damage, resulting in hip replacements for many of those people as early as 15-20 years later, many still only in their 40s,” said
Dr Carton, a specialist in hip and groin surgery at the Whitfield Clinic, Waterford. “There is increasing evidence demonstrating the link between participation in regular competitive sports at a young age and developing abnormalities in the shape of the hip. “The repetitive abnormal contact between the ball and the socket is known as ‘hip impingement’. This results in progressive damage to the hip joint and, if unrecognised, can quickly deteriorate, resulting in the premature end of a sporting career in later years and the development of osteoarthritis of the hip requiring eventual hip replacement.” Dr Carton said there was a need for greater awareness of the stresses put on young joints. “I’m not saying we stop all activities and sports CORK
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at the younger age levels but we need to recognise now that intense training sessions, competition, and participation in many different sports at an early age places enormous stresses on the growing hip joints at a time when they are most vulnerable. “We need to consider ways in which more structured training and playing can be encouraged and at the same time protect the children from developing these hip-related problems. The key is to increase professional education and general awareness of hip impingement so that diagnosis can be made early.” The issue will be discussed at the second International Hip and Groin Symposium at the Whitfield Clinic and Waterford IT on Saturday. ● hipandgroinclinic.ie ��� �� ��� ��� ����� �� ��������������
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