Ryanair has confirmed it will quit the London Stock Exchange later this month to comply with EU ownership rules that have hit the airline industry following Brexit.
The move will end the Irish carrier’s 20-year listing on the LSE and is one of the clearest examples of how the UK’s exit from the EU has affected the London market.
Ryanair warned earlier this month that it was considering leaving the LSE because of rules that insist EU airlines are owned and controlled by nationals from within the bloc, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.
The airline has barred non-EU individuals from buying shares in the company for nearly 20 years, and extended this to institutions and individuals in the UK at the start of this year following Brexit.
On Friday, Ryanair said it expected the last day of trading in its London-listed shares to be December 17. “The volume of trading of the shares on the London Stock Exchange does not justify the costs,” the airline said.
While its primary listing is in Dublin, Ryanair has struggled to shed UK investors since the country’s departure from the bloc in January.
But it was forced to eject some UK shareholders in September through the forced sale of 1m shares after they bought into the company. UK shareholders who had held stock before January have been able to keep their holdings but are barred from attending or voting at annual meetings.