US firm goes public with £4.7bn proposal to buy easyJet after earlier bids rejected

The US investment firm trying to buy easyJet has gone public with a £4.7bn takeover proposal for the budget airline, after three proposals were rebuffed by the easyJet board. Castlelake said on Monday that an all-cash offer of 625p a share, valuing easyJet at just over £4.7bn, had been rejected on Sunday, after previous offers at 560p and 600p. Castlelake said it had now decided to make the bid public so that easyJet shareholders could evaluate it before a takeover deadline on Friday. “Castlelake expected that the third proposal would elicit prompt engagement from the easyJet board,” the company said. “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 easyJet shareholders to consider its merits and provide their views on the third proposal to the easyJet board.” Under City takeover rules, Castlelake, which is headquartered in Minneapolis and manages $36bn (£27bn) in assets, has until 5pm on 26 June to announce whether it intends to make an offer for easyJet. Castlelake also said it has partnered with two investors to meet EU regulations whereby European airlines must be majority owned by investors within the region. This rule still applies to easyJet, even after Brexit. The company said it had partnered with Peter Bellew, a former chief operating officer at Riyadh Air, easyJet and Ryanair, and the former chief executive of Malaysia Airlines. …