Flybe (LON:FLYB) shares sunk nearly 25 percent in early trading on Thursday, after London Southend Airport owner Stobart Group said it wouldn’t be making an offer for the carrier.

Stobart Group released a statement this morning saying that it had been “unable to reach agreement on satisfactory terms”.

“The board of Stobart Group has determined that it is not in its shareholders’ best interests to increase its latest proposal for Flybe above the level which was rejected by the board of Flybe.

“Given this, Stobart Group confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for Flybe”, it concluded.

Flybe responded with a statement in which it said it remains “highly confident in the prospects of Flybe” and “believes that the group continues to have an exciting future as an independent company, delivering the sustainable business improvement plan as set out in June 2017.”

“This plan is focused on driving sustainable profit and cash generation and will see the fleet size reduce to an optimum level for the number of identified profitable routes and make the business demand-driven rather than capacity-led”, it said.

The airline were hoping for a takeover after a spate of profit warnings and a 50 percent drop in profits in the first half of 2017. Shares in Flybe (LON:FLYB) are currently trading down 23.13 percent at 35.90 (0938GMT).