EasyJet board agrees in principle to £5.2bn Castlelake takeover
The board of budget airline easyJet said it would be prepared to recommend a roughly £5.2bn takeover by US investment firm Castlelake, agreeing in principle on July 5 to an offer of £6.90 a share. It is Castlelake’s fifth approach; the board had rejected four earlier bids as too low. The deal would hand founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, whose family still owns more than 15% of the company, a payout of around £800m.
Because European rules bar a US company from taking majority control of an EU-headquartered airline, Castlelake would need to work with local partners — reportedly aviation managers Peter Bellew and Mark Breen — to satisfy ownership requirements. The agreement is only in principle: Castlelake has yet to make a firm offer, which would require committed financing, so the transaction is not yet certain.