Ryanair last night said that it had raised its stake in Aer Lingus to 29.82%.
In a statement, Ryanair said it bought an additional 3.5 million shares in Aer Lingus, bringing its total holding in the former flag carrier to 159,231,025 shares.
Ryanair, which launched a hostile but failed takeover bid for Aer Lingus, said it had bought the shares yesterday but did not say how much it had paid for them.
Meanwhile, a report in today's Irish Times says that developer Liam Carroll is believed to have sold more than 31 million shares in Aer Lingus yesterday at an estimated loss of €20m. Mr Carroll is believed to have sold the shares - snapped up by Ryanair - at €1.15 each having earlier this year buying them at almost €2m.
Stockbrokers have described the deal as a 'fire sale'. It would have yielded Mr Carroll €40.25m.
Mr Carroll is one of the country's richest developers. His Dublin-based company Zelderbridge has over 60 subsidiaries.
Ryanair shares closed up three cent at €2.64 in Dublin.
