Former Jet2 chairman sells £70m of airline’s shares
Philip Meeson, former executive chairman of Leeds-headquartered leisure travel business Jet2, has sold shares in the airline worth £70m to institutional investors.
Meeson has said his reason for the transaction has been driven by “personal financial considerations alone.”
He said he believes the airline is “ideally positioned to fully take advantage of a market with huge potential.”
And he believes there is a great future for Jet2, adding he expects to continue as a very substantial shareholder in the business.
Meeson stepped down as executive chair of Jet2 in September 2023, a month before his 76th birthday. The sale of five million shares represents 2.3% of the company.
He acquired the business in 1983, when the it was a small cargo airline distributing flowers grown in the Channel Islands to UK markets, and returning with freight. He oversaw the company’s listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1988, and its growth into a leading leisure business.
The company will not receive any proceeds from the share placing. Jefferies International Ltd acted as sole global co-ordinator and sole bookrunner in connection with the placing.
