easyJet rejects £4.7 billion Castlelake bid by as takeover deadline looms
Castlelake, the US-based investment firm attempting to purchase easyJet, has gone public with its latest offer for the budget airline. The disclosure that the firm has made an offer for around £4.7 billion for the airline comes as the deadline for the proposed investment fast approaches.
Castlelake has made three formal bids for easyJet so far
On Monday, 22 June, Castlelake went public with its £4.7 billion takeover bid for the UK-based low-cost carrier.
According to the firm, it has so far had three proposals rejected by the easyJet board. It has now gone public with this third offer, valuing the airline at just over £4.7 billion ($6.21 billion) for shareholders in order to exert pressure on the airline’s board to accept the deal.
In its latest announcement, Castlelake said that an all-cash offer of 625p a share, valuing easyJet at just over £4.7bn, had been rejected by the airline’s board on Sunday, 21 June, following previous offers of 560p and 600p.
Castlelake said it had now decided to make the latest bid public so that easyJet shareholders could evaluate it before a takeover deadline on Friday.
Under rule 2.4 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Castlelake (which has its headquarters based in Minneapolis) has until 17:00 GMT on Friday, 26 June to either have a bid accepted by the easyJet board or to withdraw from making a proposal.
Castlelake already holds a 2.14% stake in easyJet, making it one of the carrier’s top 10 shareholders.
According to a Castlelake statement, “Castlelake expected that the third proposal would elicit prompt engagement from the easyJet board.
Following the rejection of three proposals [by the board], and given its unwillingness to engage meaningfully, Castlelake is announcing this third proposal to enable easyJet shareholders to consider its merits and provide their views on the third proposal to the easyJet board.”
Castlelake sets out EU ownership plans for easyJet
Castlelake added that it has partnered with two major investors to satisfy EU ownership and control regulations, whereby European airlines must be majority-owned by investors based within the region. Although easyJet remains UK-based and outside the EU, this rule still applies.
Shedding more light on this point, the company said it had partnered with Peter Bellew, a former chief operating officer at Riyadh Air, easyJet and Ryanair, and the former chief executive of Malaysia Airlines to construct its bid for easyJet.
As reported by The Guardian, Bellew runs Dooks Capital, a seed investment and advisory firm focused on AI in aviation, which was founded in September 2025 and operates out of Saudi Arabia.
The second partner is Mark Breen, chief executive of Dublin-based Oneiros Aerospace, whose previous experience includes working for Oman Air. Both are confirmed as EU nationals by Castlelake.
“The third proposal includes these EU national partners investing and participating in the proposed acquisition of the company through their ownership and control of an EU company,” Castlelake commented in its statement.
“This EU partner will hold a controlling shareholding in the overall structure. The EU Partner will at all times be owned and controlled by EU nationals.”
“This proposed structure is consistent with structures adopted by several other European airlines that are subject to the same EU ownership rules as the company. “
“Castlelake is confident that this is a clear, deliverable solution to ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements,” it added.
The clock is ticking for a deal to be struck
Castlelake first declared its interest in easyJet earlier on 1 June, stating that it intended to make an offer for the carrier of “at least 403p”, which valued easyJet at £3bn. However, the London Luton-based carrier pushed back on the interest shown by Castlelake.
Referring to Castlelake as “highly opportunistic”, the carrier said at the time that it had not received any formal proposal from the US firm, and that no current talks are ongoing.
Now, with the news that three cash offers have so far been made for the airline, easyJet has responded by saying that Castlelake is trying to buy the airline “on the cheap” and said that its proposed ownership structure of the carrier is “opaque” at best, adding that the offer, as it currently stands, is “therefore not in the best interests of easyJet shareholders.”
Adding to its response, easyJet said that its board had carefully considered the third proposal with its advisers but has concluded that it remained “highly opportunistic, delivered against the backdrop of easyJet’s temporarily depressed share price, while still fundamentally undervaluing easyJet and its prospects.”
easyJet’s share price has been volatile throughout 2026
EasyJet, Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier, has previously acknowledged that its share price is temporarily depressed by the current Middle East conflict, which has affected both customer confidence and jet fuel prices, making it vulnerable to any possible takeover action.
Like many European airlines, easyJet’s share price is currently significantly down on last year’s value. Paired with weaker forward bookings, high fuel prices, and higher losses for the first half of 2026, the airline has been suffering from high fuel costs and slower forward bookings.
Before news of Castlelake’s takeover interest emerged, shares in easyJet had lost about a fifth of their value since the start of the year.
However, since the news of Castlelake’s interest broke at the start of June, the airline’s share price has surged by 36% amid talks of a credible takeover bid.
As of 10:00 GMT on 22 June, the share price stood at 515p, up 2% on the day over the closing price on 19 June.
From Castlelake’s perspective, easyJet appears as an attractive takeover prospect given its subdued current share price. Despite recent losses, the airline is expected to bounce back to profitability over the summer months, fuelled in part by its successful in-house tour operation, easyJet Holidays.
Along with an extensive and diverse European and North African network, a large and modern all-Airbus fleet, and lucrative slot portfolios at some of Europe’s most important airports, such as London Gatwick, Rome, Amsterdam, Geneva, and Paris Charles de Gaulle, the airline holds one of the strongest market positions in Europe.
Featured image: pavel1964 / stock.adobe.com
