easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has today hit back at Mike Rake’s repeated questioning of his control over the family’s 37.4% equity stake in the budget airline.

The latest twist in his campaign to protect shareholder rights at easyJet came after the company lawyers, Herbert Smith, made “frivolous and vexatious demands” to Sir Stelios and his siblings  for “full details of voting arrangements or agreements” between them. This is less than a week before Thursday’s (23 Feb) AGM in Luton. The demands were made despite the relevant details having been submitted to easyJet’s representative.

Sir Stelios said:

“I have told them very clearly that since I resigned from the board, none of us have bought or sold any shares and we retain the voting rights to such shares. I also confirmed that since the decision of the Take-over Panel a few years ago that the three siblings should be treated as a “concert party”, ie one voting block.

“How we make decisions as a family is by definition confidential and likely to be subject to change. No other shareholder is any worse off. In fact many in the City would prefer we were treated as a concert party for their protection.”  

He added: “What I found utterly distasteful was Herbert Smith’s implied threat of criminal proceedings if I did not answer their outrageous and intrusive questions. These same idiots advised easyJet to go to court over the brand licence and then lost. This is just another malicious act in a whole string of dirty tricks to undermine my family’s standing in easyJet because we have had the temerity to stand up and question the management. Mike Rake has been paying too much for the new Airbuses and has been handing out fat cat bonuses to a handful of executives. I am obviously threatening to affect their pockets. That is why they are fighting back.”

Last week Sir Stelios issued a detailed document outlining how he and his family intended to vote on each of the 20 resolutions that have to be put to the meeting. 

To see the full document please click HERE

Sir Stelios also questioned Standard Life’s management of the £4.6 billion EADS pension fund. EADS is the parent company of Airbus which supplies the entire easyJet fleet.

“Rather than wasting shareholder’s money asking Herbert Smith to ask me how often I phone my sister, I suggest the rest of the board get a new independent law firm to investigate the following : What is the size of the EADS/Airbus pensioners’ slice of the Standard Life holding in easyJet? What are the voting arrangements between Standard Life and Airbus? Is it fair on other shareholders that a 5% holder keeps pushing for a strategy of growth which means exclusivity for Airbus without any form of competitive tender? The answer is simple. Rake’s only hope of keeping his chair on Thursday depends on including EADS/Airbus support - without them he’s gone.” 

Sir Stelios believes that Standard Life should abstain from voting on Thursday as they are conflicted by easyJet’s extensive purchase of Airbus aircraft. This would imply equality of treatment after the company excluded him and his family from voting on the revised brand licence agreement at the EGM in December 2010.

“Trying to exclude our shares from voting on Thursday whilst allowing Airbus to encourage more aircraft purchases via their arrangement with Standard Life is not fair. The situation is beginning to feel like one of Putin’s elections in Russia,” he added.