Bid rumours sent Easyjet's shares to an 18 month high

Chairman of Icelandair, Hannes Smarason, dismissed rumours that his company FL Group was behind Thursday's heavy buying of Easyjet's shares.

FL Group built up a 13.01% stake in Easyjet since October when shares were at a record low of 120 pence.

It snapped up a further 1.1% holding in the no-frills carrier this week.

Easyjet shares now stand at just below 300p.

I am not a seller at the current level Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Easyjet founder See Easyjet's share price

On Thursday, Easyjet's shares breached that level to hit 304.5p after more than 10 million shares were traded and rumours began to surface that FL Group was behind the deals.

However, Hannes Smarason told the Financial Times on Thursday night: "It must be other investors' interest. Today was not us."

A takeover of Easyjet would not be an easy task as founder and former chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou owns about 40% of the stock and is known to be reluctant to sell his share.

"I am not a seller at the current level," he told the FT.

"I think the stock is undervalued and I am working with the board to enhance shareholder value."