Castlelake, a US investment fund, has publicly revealed a takeover proposal for easyJet worth £4.74 billion after the budget airline's board rejected its advances. The private credit company said it proposed a third approach on June 20 at 625p per share, which was turned down on June 21.
Third Proposal Goes Public
Castlelake, which holds a 2.14% stake in easyJet through managed funds, stated it had previously tabled two offers at 560p and 600p per share. The fund criticised easyJet's board for refusing to engage “meaningfully” and is now taking the third proposal directly to shareholders.
“As with the second proposal, Castlelake expected that the third proposal would elicit prompt engagement from the easyJet board. However, the easyJet board rejected the third proposal on June 21 2026,” Castlelake said in a statement. “Following the rejection of three proposals by the easyJet board, and given its unwillingness to engage meaningfully, Castlelake is announcing this third proposal to enable easyJet shareholders to consider its merits.”
Premium and Timing
The latest bid represents a 59% premium over easyJet's closing share price of 394.20p on May 28, the day before Castlelake's interest became public. The disclosure comes ahead of a “put-up or shut-up” deadline set by the Takeover Panel at 5pm on June 26, requiring Castlelake to formalise its offer or walk away.
EasyJet, headquartered in Luton, had previously described Castlelake's initial interest as “highly opportunistic” on June 1. The airline noted that its share price had declined by about 30% over the past year before the bid, partly due to concerns over the impact of the Iran war on the aviation sector.
EasyJet's Response
The FTSE 250 company emphasised its strong financial position and reiterated its medium-term target of delivering over £1 billion in pre-tax profits. It also highlighted “considerable regulatory, financial and other execution challenges associated with a potential takeover of easyJet.”
Castlelake, led by executive chairman and founder Rory O'Neill, manages $36 billion (£27.3 billion) in assets. The fund entered talks in January to acquire bankrupt US carrier Spirit Airlines and previously bailed out Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), later selling its shares to Air France-KLM.
