Two United States-based investment firms, Causeway Capital Management and Pzena Investment Management, have each increased their holdings in Wizz Air to more than 5% after Indigo Partners said it would sell an almost 10% stake in the low-cost carrier.
In regulatory filings on March 6 and March 10, Wizz Air confirmed that Causeway Capital Management and Pzena Investment Management each acquired additional shares in the airline, crossing the notification threshold of 5%.
Both investment firms run various funds for investors.
The purchase came shortly after Indigo Partners, which held a 23.9% stake in Wizz Air, said that it would sell around 10 million of its shares in the airline, representing around a 9.7% stake. The shares were placed “via an accelerated bookbuild offering to institutional investors only.”
“The Placement is driven by certain investors in the funds managed by Indigo Partners seeking to realise their investment following an extended holding period.”
William Franke, the founder and managing partner of Indigo Partners, continues to serve as Chairman of Wizz Air’s board.
On February 26, when Indigo Partners announced the sale of the shares, Wizz Air’s shares closed at £13.36 ($17.92) and opened the next day at £12.34 ($16.56). Since then, the price has been falling, and on March 11, opened at £9.53 ($12.79).
Rytis Beresnevicius
Investors globally have been selling airlines’ shares amid hostilities in Iran, which have strained global oil supplies. While the price of crude oil has contracted from its peak, S&P Global warned that “global jet fuel benchmarks broke records while outpacing increases in other refined product prices as shipments from the Middle East stall since the US war with Iran started on Feb. 28, and buyers scramble for alternative supply.”
In early March, Wizz Air stated that its full-year FY26 result would be around €50 million ($57.9 million) lower than its initial guidance of between a loss of €25 million ($28.9 million) and a profit of €25 million.
“In terms of the expected impact, approximately one third is a result of the cessation of certain scheduled services to the Middle East, with the remainder from the adverse movement in macroeconomic factors as a result of the Iran conflict.”
Rytis Beresnevicius
