Jul 12, 2026
ManyPress
Business

EasyJet has rejected a £4.74bn takeover offer from US investment firm Castlelake, calling it 'opportunistic'.

ManyPress

ManyPress Editorial Team

ManyPress Editorial

2 min readSource:BBC Business
EasyJet Rejects £4.7bn Takeover Offer

Key facts

  • EasyJet has rejected a £4.74bn takeover offer from Castlelake
  • Castlelake made three takeover approaches to EasyJet this month, all of which were rejected
  • EasyJet's shareholders would receive 625p per share under the offer, a 24% premium to last Friday's closing price
  • Castlelake already owns a 2.14% stake in EasyJet through the funds it manages

EasyJet has rejected a takeover offer worth £4.74bn from US investment firm Castlelake. The airline accused Castlelake of trying to buy it 'on the cheap'. Castlelake made three takeover approaches to EasyJet this month, all of which were rejected.

By the numbers

£4.74bn
takeover offer
625p
share price offer
24%
premium to last Friday's closing price
2.14%
Castlelake's stake in EasyJet
90 million
EasyJet's annual passengers

Takeover Details

Castlelake has made details of its latest offer public to allow shareholders to assess the proposal. Under the offer, EasyJet's shareholders would receive 625p per share, a 24% premium to last Friday's closing price. Castlelake has until Friday to make a firm offer or walk away.

EasyJet's Response

EasyJet repeated its accusation that Castlelake's offer was 'highly opportunistic', arguing that its share price had been 'temporarily depressed' partly due to the impact of the Iran war on the travel sector. The carrier also expressed 'considerable reservations' about the proposed new ownership structure, calling it 'opaque'.

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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by BBC Business.

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