easyJet to Open Books to Castlelake After Rejecting Revised $6.49 Billion Bid — Update

By Adam Whittaker

U.K. budget airline easyJet said it would give U.S. investment firm Castlelake access to limited commercial data to obtain a higher takeover offer, after rejecting a sweetened bid of 4.93 billion pounds ($6.49 billion).

The company said Thursday that its board considers Castlelake's latest proposal--the fourth--as still undervaluing easyJet, but that accepting the suitor's demand to access some commercial information might produce a more attractive proposal.

As a result, easyJet sought to give Castlelake more time to come up with a higher offer and U.K. regulators granted its request to extend the bid deadline to July 5 from Friday previously, it said.

The move marks a shift in easyJet's stance toward Castlelake, which as recently as Monday called out what it described as easyJet's unwillingness to engage meaningfully. Meanwhile, easyJet previously described Castlelake's approach as opportunistic given the conflict in the Middle East had been weighing on its shares.

Minneapolis-based Castlelake, which has about $37 billion in assets and owns an aircraft-leasing business, has been courting easyJet with a series of takeover bids in recent weeks, but all of its approaches have been rebuffed so far.

Castlelake enlisted former easyJet executive Peter Bellew and Mark Breen, another airline-industry veteran, as well as Brookfield Asset Management as partners for its latest proposal, which values the company at 650 pence a share in cash. This is up from a previous proposal of 625 pence a share and represents a premium of about 65% to easyJet's last closing price before the U.S. firm first disclosed it was considering a bid.

Shares in easyJet climbed 5.3% to 568.20 pence in European morning trading and have gained more than 40% since Castlelake made public its interest in a possible takeover, recouping all of its losses since the war in the Middle East began and cast a pall on airline stocks.

Under the latest proposal, the bidding vehicle would be owned 49% by Castlelake and coinvestors including Brookfield, and 51% by Bellew and Breen, two European Union nationals, to comply with the bloc's regulations.

However, easyJet said it continues to have concerns about the ownership structure and whether an offer can be delivered. The extended bid deadline would allow Castlelake to work on an increased proposal and to address the concerns raised by easyJet's board, the airline said.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2026 05:16 ET (09:16 GMT)