EU approves Ryanair's acquisition of LaudaMotion

Ryanair has received unconditional approval from the European Commission to bump up its stake in Austrian low-cost carrier LaudaMotion from 24.9% to 75%.

LaudaMotion is the company through which former Formula One driver Niki Lauda re-acquired the assets of NIKI - the leisure air carrier he founded in 2003 that was later integrated into Air Berlin - in January 2018.

The assets of NIKI were put up for sale because in December 2017 Lufthansa decided not to acquire NIKI, which then immediately filed for insolvency.

"The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area," it said in a statement.

The EC found that the increase in the slot portfolio of Ryanair is unlikely to have a negative effect on passengers, and that the airline will continue to face strong competition from other carriers on the routes to and from airports where the activities of both airlines overlap.

Ryanair welcomed the decision on Friday. The company's chief legal and regulatory officer, Juliusz Komorek, said: "Ryanair remains committed to bringing competition, choice and low fares to the Austrian, German and Spanish markets through our investment in Laudamotion.

"We urge the EU competition authorities to take action and prevent any further attempts by Lufthansa to damage competition through its anti-consumer behaviour.”

Liberum said Ryanair's investment is part of its push into the German market, where lost-cost airline penetration has historically been below the European average.

At 1040 BST, the shares were up 0.9% to €15.74.