EasyJet rebuffs 'cheap' £4.74 billion takeover

Budget carrier EasyJet has blasted a US suitor’s £4.74 billion takeover approach as an attempt to buy it “on the cheap” after rebuffing three proposals.

The airline says Castlelake’s latest 625p-a-share offer was “highly opportunistic”.

The move followed previous proposals worth 560p and 600p per share.

However, EasyJet says the latest proposed ownership structure is “opaque”.

The carrier – which previously unveiled a 130-job Newcastle International Airport base – claims it would be 49 per cent owned by Castlelake and 51 per cent owned by “EU nationals and potentially other investors which have not been disclosed”.

However, Castlelake says it has teamed up with EU national individual investors Peter Bellew and Mark Breen, who are “experienced executives who have successfully held senior positions in airlines, including European low-cost carriers”.

A spokesperson said: “The board carefully considered the third proposal with its advisers and concluded it is highly opportunistic, delivered against the backdrop of EasyJet’s temporarily depressed share price, and still fundamentally undervalues EasyJet and its prospects.

“The board believes the third proposal represents an opportunistic attempt to acquire EasyJet ‘on the cheap’”.

Castlelake, which owns a stake of around 2.14 per cent in EasyJet through shares held on behalf of funds it manages, said it was taking its third proposed offer to the airline’s shareholders after claiming the carrier has refused to engage “meaningfully”.

The US investment fund, which is led by executive chair and founder Rory O’Neill, added: “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 shareholders to consider its merits.”

Castlelake previously bailed out collapsed Scandinavian Airlines before selling its shares to Air France-KLM.

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