Dr Tony Ryan and his family will raise between £34 million and £41 million through the Ryanair flotation, while retaining a stake in Ryanair worth between £92 million and £110 million.

Dr Tony Ryan and his sons Declan, Cathal and Shane, own 61.7 per cent of the company through a family trust. They are selling 20.8 million shares in the flotation and this sale together with the dilution effect of the new shares will reduce the Ryan stake to 35 per cent.

The Ryan family will raise between £34.3 million and £40.6 million through the sale of part of its stake in Ryanair. The target price at which the shares are expected to be floated will be in the 165p to 195p range.

The family's remaining stake in Ryanair will be worth between £92.7 million and £109.6 million. Under a "green shoe" clause in the flotation document, the Ryan family may sell an additional 4.2 million shares if there is very strong demand in the market. That would reduce its stake to 32.9 per cent.

As executive directors of the company, Cathal and Declan Ryan shared profit related bonus payments of £5 million in 1995 and £8.9 million in 1996.

This is in addition to £53 million received by the family last August through a complex restructuring which reduced the trust's stake on the company to 61.7 per cent.

It is a remarkable change of fortune for Dr Tony Ryan, who will be hoping things run according to plan for the forthcoming flotation, following the startling collapse of the Guinness Peat Aviation flotation five years ago.

Dr Ryan, who founded the aircraft leasing company, along with its employees and other shareholders, incurred heavy personal losses following the collapse which brought the company to its knees. If it had been successful, Dr Ryan's own shareholding in the company would have risen to around £110 million. But the aborted flotation saw the company rack up debts of more than $200 million, which have been written off.

Dr Ryan's personal finances also came under pressure, and he was subsequently forced to defer repayment of a $35 million (£23.29 million) personal loan from..US investment bank Merrill Lynch. The loan was secured against GPA shares prior to the flotation.

Dr Ryan (60) is from Tipperary. He has homes in Monaco and Spain and lives in Ireland at Kilboy, near Silvermines, Co Tipperary.