* Lonrho sells aviation unit to Rubicon for $86 mln
* Unit to become Fastjet, which will launch by year-end
* Stelios’s easyGroup to own 5 pct of Rubicon
By Rhys Jones
LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) – EasyJet founder Stelios
Haji-Ioannou moved a step closer to setting up a new
Africa-focused airline, Fastjet, after a British investment
group he is part of bought Lonrho’s African aviation
business.
Lonrho, an industrial group with interests in Africa, said
on Wednesday it had sold its aviation unit to British investment
firm Rubicon for $86 million in Rubicon shares. As part
of the deal, Stelios’s easyGroup will own 5 percent of Rubicon.
Lonrho, which will own more than 50 percent of Rubicon on
completion of the deal, runs Fly540, a low-cost carrier that
operates in east Africa.
Fastjet, which plans to list on London’s junior AIM market
under the Rubicon banner, will use the existing Fly540 platform
and expand its network, eventually folding it into the new
airline.
“It is the optimum time to launch because Africa is hugely
underserved from an aviation perspective. It is the last
frontier for aviation,” said Ed Winter, the former easyJet chief
operating officer who will become Fastjet CEO.
Continued…
