Stobart agrees to buy remaining stake in Propius Holdings

Stobart had agreed to buy the remaining 33% it does not already own in Propius Holdings from Aer Lingus for $14.7m.

The two parties are in the process of negotiating contracts and the deal is expected to complete this year.

The consideration will be funded by a sale of ordinary shares of 10p each to an institutional investor.

The group said it sold just over 10m Treasury shares or around 2.8% of the company’s existing issued share capital, at 155p per share, on Thursday. The sale raised £15.6m before expenses.

To the extent not applied as consideration for the remaining stake in Propius, proceeds will be used to fund a refinancing and for expenditure within Stobart's aviation portfolio.

For the year ended 31 December 2015, Propius made a pre-tax profit of $7.5m and has gross assets of $154.6m.

At 1512 GMT, Stobart shares were up 2.8% to 156.56p.