I have shares in Aer Lingus and have had for a while, but I am concerned about this whole business with Ryanair. The takeover bid and buying up shares has unsettled me slightly. Can anyone help me figure out whether to sell them?

I agree with Black Monday. The situation is certainly worth watching but is uncomfortable for those in your situation. Ryanair are not going to give up any time soon because of a lost takeover bid and will continue to buy shares whenever they become available.

They are selling for 2.82 at the moment, and are unlikely to rise much higher because of the uncertainty surrounding their future. They are going nowhere but the question is how did you get hold of them. If you acquired them through working for Aer Lingus then there may be restrictions on them that may stipulate that you are unable to sell them.

I am curious to see whether or not Ryanair are still contacing shareholders and offering 2.80 to take their shares off their hands in order to get the 51% they need. If it carries on like this for much longer then any shareholder in their right mind would snap it up. I do wonder what they'll offer when they reach 40+% of the total shares!

I got the shares as part of a redundancy package a few years ago so I'm not sure whether I would have the right to sell them in that case. I guess that would be one way of safeguarding against a takeover... ultimately not going to work but a nice idea nevertheless.

I think it is only a matter of time before Ryanair do take over Aer Lingus and I am skeptical about the prices holding before they do. It has been steady for the past eon, but what happens if they go down? WIll the Ryanair offer go down? People will certainly want to offload them. It would certainly be fascinating to watch, even if I am bored with the whole saga now.