Aer Lingus tells shareholders to sit tight after latest Ryanair bid

Irish carrier Aer Lingus has told shareholders to do nothing and wait for advice from the board after rival Ryanair again staged to takeover bid for the airline.

The latter has now made three unsolicited offers, with the latest valuing Aer Lingus at €694m.

The offer was at a 38.3% premium to Aer Lingus' closing price on Tuesday.

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Aer Lingus said it would "make a statement in due course".

Ryanair already has a 30% stake in Aer Lingus, but instead of owning more it could end up with nothing.

On Monday, Ryanair's existing stake was referred to the UK's Competition Commission, which could demand it sells the holding.

In 2007 Ryanair's attempt to buy Aer Lingus was stopped by the European Commission.

Analysts said it was tough to see how the deal would get through this time since the combined airline would control 80% of traffic between Ireland and the UK.

However, investors seemed delighted, pushing the shares up 21% in early trading.

Ryanair also struck a bullish tone over its chances of success.

"Ryanair believes that any competition concerns ... can be addressed by Ryanair making appropriate remedies prior to the completion of this offer and by significant synergies and cost efficiencies resulting from this combination," the low-cost airline said in a statement.