Wednesday 20 February 2019 8:35 am | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 12:38 am

Flybe shares soar 146 per cent following rescue offer from Tinkler-backed bidders

Shares in ailing airline Flybe have soared 146 per cent this morning after the carrier confirmed it has received a rescue offer from Arizona-based airline Mesa Air and fund manager Bateleur Capital with the backing of former Stobart boss Andrew Tinkler.

But Flybe said the offer was a "preliminary and highly conditional" outline contingency proposal from the Tinkler-backed investors, who have lodged the offer while Flybe continues its talks with preferred rescuer Connect Airways, a consortium involving Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital.

The Virgin-led group has provided the first £15m of the £20m credit facility it announced in January, Flybe confirmed today.

The Mesa and Bateleur offer raises the prospect of a bidding war between Stobart and Tinkler, who was fired from the Stobart board last summer amid a row with incumbent chairman Iain Ferguson.

Yesterday it was revealed that Mesa had tabled a £65m rescue deal for Flybe. The terms of the deal would see the group inject £65m of new equity at roughly 4.5p per share, much higher than the 1p per share offer tabled by the Virgin-led consortium.

Mesa’s offer would also include new debt facilities, taking the total funding up to £120m, and is subject to Flybe rejecting Virgin’s offer.

Flybe said: "The board does not believe that the indicative proposal is executable in the timeframe required to enable Flybe to continue to trade.

"Accordingly, the board emphasises to shareholders that it continues to regard the arrangements entered into with Connect Airways as being the only viable option available to the company which provides the security that the business needs to continue to trade successfully.

"The arrangements with Connect Airways preserve the interests of Flybe’s stakeholders, customers, employees, partners and pension members."