{"slug": "easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected", "title": "EasyJet suitor reveals takeover approach worth £4.7bn after proposals rejected", "summary": "Castlelake, a US investment fund, publicly disclosed a £4.74 billion takeover approach for easyJet after three proposals were rejected by the budget airline's board. The third offer of 625p per share was rejected on June 21, prompting Castlelake to appeal directly to shareholders ahead of a Takeover Panel deadline. EasyJet has dismissed the bids as opportunistic, citing regulatory challenges and its own profit targets.", "body_md": "# EasyJet suitor reveals takeover approach worth £4.7bn after proposals rejected\n\n## Castlelake put forward a third approach to acquire easyJet on June 20 worth 625p a share, but said this was rejected on June 21.\n\n- Bookmark\n\nEasyJet suitor Castlelake has gone public with a takeover proposal for the budget airline worth £4.74 billion after its advances have been rejected.\n\nCastlelake said it put forward a third approach to acquire easyJet on June 20 worth 625p a share, but this was rejected on June 21.\n\nThe US investment fund said it was now taking its third proposed offer to easyJet shareholders after claiming the carrier has refused to engage “meaningfully”.\n\nThe private credit company, which owns a stake of around 2.14% in easyJet through shares held on behalf of funds it manages, said it had tabled two previous proposals worth 560p a share and 600p a share.\n\nCastlelake said: “As with the second proposal, Castlelake expected that the third proposal would elicit prompt engagement from the easyJet board.\n\n“However, the easyJet board rejected the third proposal on June 21 2026.\n\n“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 and provide their views on the third proposal to the easyJet board,” it added.\n\nIt comes ahead of the upcoming so-called Put-up or Shut-up deadline set by the Takeover Panel at 5pm on June 26.\n\nCastlelake insisted its latest possible bid offered “compelling value”, at a premium of around 59% on the 394.20p price of easyJet shares at market close on May 28, which was the day before its interest in the airline became public.\n\nLuton-based EasyJet branded Castlelake’s initial interest as “highly opportunistic” in its first response on June 1.\n\nEasyJet said the takeover interest came at a time when its share price has been pushed lower by worries over the impact of the [Iran](/topic/iran) war on the airline sector.\n\nThe FTSE 250 firm’s shares were down around 30% in the past year, before news of the bid interest.\n\nIt also highlighted its strong financial position and said it remained focused on its medium-term target to deliver more than £1 billion in pre-tax profits.\n\nEasyJet added at the time there was “considerable regulatory, financial and other execution challenges associated with a potential takeover of easyJet”.\n\nLed by executive chairman and founder Rory O’Neill, Castlelake and has assets under management worth 36 billion US dollars (£27.3 billion).\n\nIt entered talks in January with bankrupt US carrier [Spirit Airlines](/topic/spirit-airlines) over a possible takeover.\n\nCastlelake has also previously bailed out collapsed Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and then sold on its shares to Air France-KLM.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/easyjet-spirit-airlines-iran-luton-air-france-b3000181.html", "published_at": "2026-06-22 07:02:12+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-22 07:17:35.099410+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-startups"], "entities": ["Castlelake", "easyJet", "Rory O'Neill", "Spirit Airlines", "SAS", "Air France-KLM", "Takeover Panel"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/easyjet-suitor-reveals-takeover-approach-worth-ps4-7bn-after-proposals-rejected.jsonld"}}