British family office set to buy Monarch Airlines

A UK family office is tipped to buy British airline Monarch and turnaround the struggling company.

Greybull Capital is the preferred bidder to buy the company, whose profits for the last year sat at £5.9 million, while previous year the company made a loss of £33.4 million.

It is majority owned by Swiss-Italian family the Mantegazzas.

Already staff at the airline have a agreed to a 30% pay cut to secure the airline's future, and a further 900 workers look set to lose their jobs.

Greybull Capital, run by brothers Marc and Nathaniel Meyohas, specialises in buying underperforming businesses and making them profitable.

In a statement, Monarch said of Greybull: “It views an investment in Monarch as a long-term opportunity in a very strong brand with great potential in all of its markets, and intends to be supportive shareholders throughout Monarch's next chapter.”

The statement said Greybull would provide significant capital to grow Monarch, capitalising on its brand name. The company was founded in 1967, with significant financial banking from the Mantegazzas.

The deal is still under negotiation, but, if successful, a transaction is expected towards the end of October.