flybe shareholders up in arms over Connect Airways deal

London-based private equity firm and key Flybe Group shareholder Hosking Partners could thwart a planned takeover of the UK regional carrier by the Connect Airways consortium, Sky News has reported. On January 11, Flybe Group said Connect Airways, whose shareholders include Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group, and another private equity firm - Cyrus Capital, had submitted an offer to acquire all Flybe's shares for approximately GBP2.2 million pounds (USD2.83 million) and to extend a bridging loan to the airline for GBP20 million (USD25.75 million). The offer had valued each of the airline's 216,656,776 shares at GBP0.01 per share, far below that of its trading value.