LONDON (Reuters) - EasyJet's biggest shareholder, the family of founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has decided not to participate in the British airline's 1.2 billion pound rights issue and has sold its rights to buy new shares, a source familiar with the situation said.
The Haji-Ioannou family has sold 76.3 million nil paid rights at 1.65 pounds, a 15% discount to the closing price of the rights on Thursday, said the source.
The family has repeatedly said it did not plan to plough more money into easyJet (LON:EZJ) while the airline sticks to a deal with Airbus to buy more planes.
As a result of the rights issue, the family's stake is set to reduce to 15.2% from 25.3% when the new shares go live on Sept. 28.
Both easyJet and a representative for the family declined to comment.