Flybe has confirmed a report that one of its main shareholders wants to replace the airline’s chairman.
Sky News reported at the weekend that shareholder Hosking Partners called an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) aimed at ousting chairman Simon Laffin.
The fund management company has been unhappy that the deal agreed for the sale of Flybe to a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic was too cheap.
Hosking, which owns nearly 19% of Flybe, wants to install Eric Kohn, an experienced aviation executive, instead.
Sky News said Flybe confirmed on Monday that it had ‘received correspondence from Hosking Partners LLP to this effect’ last week.
Flybe said its board ‘continued to have full confidence’ in Mr Laffin as chairman.
The investigation relates to the sale process run by Flybe’s board, which resulted in vastly discounted 1p-a-share offer from the Virgin-led consortium, Connect Airways being recommended earlier this month.
Four days later, Flybe restructured the deal to sell the regional carrier’s main assets for just £2.8m in a transaction which does not require shareholder approval.
Last week, Hosking warned that it could seek an injunction to try to block the deal.
Flybe shares surged almost 24% as markets opened, Sky reported.
