Flybe on Monday threw its support behind its under-fire chairman, despite attempts by the airline’s largest shareholder to oust him following concerns about a cut-price sale of the business.
The troubled airline confirmed that investor Hosking Partners, which owns nearly 19% of Flybe, has urged it to remove Simon Laffin as chairman.
Flybe said it received correspondence from Hosking Partners on Friday, which also called for industry veteran Eric Kohn to be made a director to investigate the sales process around Flybe.
Flybe said it has “full confidence” in Laffin and believes that “any independent scrutiny of its conduct will support the board’s decision-making”.
The airline, led by chief executive Christine Ourmières-Widener and buffeted by currency headwinds and softer customer demand, has been slammed for a £2.2 million rescue package agreed this month. It is being taken over by a consortium of Stobart Group, Virgin Atlantic and Cyrus Capital Partners.
The deal valued Flybe at 1p per share — a 94% discount to a day before the sale announcement. The firm was valued at £215 million when it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.
Shares rose 0.8p, or more than 23%, to 4.2p today.
