Lonrho on Wednesday said it had sold its aviation business to British investment firm Rubicon, allowing it to create Africa-focused low cost airline FastJet with EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s EasyGroup.
Lonrho said it had sold the unit to Rubicon for $85.7m. As part of the deal, Stelios’ EasyGroup will own 5% of Rubicon.
“Following completion Rubicon will pursue a strategy of developing a low cost African airline utilising the Lonrho Aviation route network and existing platforms,” Lonrho said in a statement.