In November, the company announced that it was putting itself up for sale for £2.2 million – owing to continued headwinds from higher fuel and currency costs – and was in talks with a number of strategic operators.
Connect Airways – a consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital Partners – soon expressed interest in the deal.
However, many shareholders expressed displeasure at the one penny per share price being put forward and Flybe admitted that it was ‘disappointingly low’.
But, after the airline’s board agreed to the sale, it issued a stark warning to shareholders, saying that if they did not agree the deal, the board would wind up the company.
US-based Mesa Airlines also attempted to put forward a last-minute deal to acquire the company but this was rejected by Flybe who said that, among other reasons, there was not enough time to complete any transaction.
On Monday, a total of 63% of shareholders agreed to the takeover by Connect Airways while 37% voted against it.
The terms of the sale will now need to be approved in court this Friday. However, if the sale is approved, Flybe will soon be branded Connect Airways before eventually becoming Virgin Atlantic.
