British budget carrier EasyJet has rejected a roughly $6.2 billion buyout offer from U.S. investment firm Castlelake.
EasyJet’s board of directors voted unanimously against Castlelake’s bid on Monday and reiterated their earlier criticism that the company is being “opportunistic” in attempting to leverage the weakened European air travel market for its own benefit.
Castlelake, which is headquartered in Minnesota, made the details of its latest offer public in a direct appeal to EasyJet’s investors. It said it made two prior offers for the airline, which were also rejected.
The firm’s latest bid translated to about £4.7 billion, or £6.25 per share. According to EasyJet, the proposal would have given Castlelake a 49% stake in the carrier, with the remaining 51% held by “EU nationals and potentially other investors which have not been disclosed.”
The split would be needed to comply with rules requiring the airline to remain majority owned by Europeans. According to Reuters, the other investors include former Malaysia Airlines CEO Peter Bellew, an Irish national.
Castlelake announced its interest in EasyJet earlier this month, but the airline has been reluctant to engage beyond reviewing and turning down its offers. The carrier maintains that Castlake is attempting to make a deal “on the cheap” with bids based on its current share price, which has been undermined by the war in Iran and the continuing oil shock. In reality, EasyJet is in a much better position than its share price implies, officials said, with a strong medium-term outlook and healthy balance sheet and capital structure.
Under U.K. business regulations, Castlelake has until Friday to reach a deal with EasyJet.
Castlelake entered the aviation sector last year with the launch of a dedicated lending entity, Merit AirFinance. In January, the firm reportedly entered talks with Spirit for a potential sale. A deal never materialized, and Spirit went out of business in May.
