EasyJet has rejected the proposal from the Castlelake fund for the third time
“The offer is too low and does not reflect the airline’s true value,” said the company. The share price has risen by more than 5% on the stock market; the offer expires on Thursday.
by Mara Monti
The British airline easyJet has rejected the takeover bid put forward by the US fund Castlelake, worth 4.74 billion pounds and valuing the company at 6.25 pounds per share, describing it once again as ‘opportunistic’ and not in the interests of shareholders.
Castlelake, based in Minneapolis and specialising in the aviation sector, manages approximately $38 billion in assets. The investor has argued that its initiative will enable easyJet shareholders to properly assess the offer, on which they will be able to vote until 26 June, the deadline set for the transaction.
On the stock market, easyJet shares closed the trading session in London up 2.78 per cent at £5.18, having risen by as much as 5.3 per cent during the session. The company’s shares have risen by a total of 27% since 29 May, when Castlelake announced its intention to launch a bid for the airline.
Attention is now focused on the position of the main shareholders. These include Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the British entrepreneur of Cypriot origin who founded the company and who controls 15.3 per cent of it, as well as the investment funds which together hold around 70 per cent of the share capital.
In a statement, Castlelake clarified that this is the third bid it has made. The previous offers, of £5.60 and £6 per share respectively, made on 12 and 17 June, had both been rejected by the board of directors, despite being higher than the market prices at the time.
