Flybe reassures market on future of Virgin-led takeover

Flybe is seeking to reassure the market about the future of its proposed takeover by a Virgin-led consortium, amid reports that one of its biggest shareholders has threatened to take legal action to stop the transaction from going ahead. In a Jan 24 notice to the London Stock Exchange, Flybe said it had received half of the proceeds from a GBP20m (US$26.1m) bridge loan facility which the Connect Airways consortium agreed to provide in order to shore up the struggling carrier’s liquidity. “Flybe continues to receive payments from its card acquirers in accordance with the arrangements agreed at the time of the SPA [share price agreement] being entered into. The arrangements with the company’s credit card acquirers and banks are important to enable Flybe to continue to trade, and are conditional themselves upon the SPA completing,” the airline said. <br/>