Aer Lingus Chairman John Sharman announced Thursday that the company's board has unanimously rejected Ryanair's takeover attempt, the Associated Press reports. Calling the bid "hostile and unwelcome," Sharman added in a statement that Ryanair's "approach is unsolicited, wholly opportunistic and significantly undervalues the group's businesses and attractive long-term growth potential.'' Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary dismissed Sharman's comments as "boilerplate stuff you get from companies subject to takeover bids.'' According to O'Leary, that by combining "the two leading Irish airlines together into one strong group," the one airline "would be able to compete with Europe and the world.''
