Must read: easyJet shares take to the skies
ii’s head of investment rounds up the morning’s big news.
6th July 2026 09:35
by Victoria Scholar from interactive investor
easyJet has confirmed it has agreed to Castlelake’s improved takeover offer of 690 pence per share. This represents a more than 70% premium to the low-cost carrier’s share price before takeover interest was disclosed at the end of May. Castlelake has been incrementally sweetening its offer from an initial 560p bid before its fifth attempt finally crossed the line.
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Shares in easyJet (LSE:EZJ) are up by around 10% this morning as investors cheer the estimated £5.5 billion take private deal. Moving a business away from the publicly traded stock market can provide greater flexibility as it means less pressure to deliver quarterly updates and be accountable to shareholders for the ups and downs of its share price.
Castlelake has longstanding experience and interest in the sector including in airline leasing, restructuring and a stake holding in Scandinavian airline SAS, so easyJet makes clear strategic sense as a target for the US investment firm. The low-cost carrier would provide Castlelake with extremely hard to attain landing slots at key airports like London Gatwick.
Castlelake is clearly trying to capitalise on the airline sector’s weakness this year with the Iran war causing major travel disruption and a spike in fuel costs, weighing on easyJet’s shares which fell sharply over the first five months of the year. Longer term though, easyJet had already been underperforming rivals like Ryanair in recent years.
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Looking ahead, the deal is far from complete with potential regulatory hurdles on the horizon particularly around EU ownership rules, which require airlines to be majority owned by a European company. Castlelake has until 3 August to make a firm offer or walk away.
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