Easyjet investors call for £600m more from US bidder

Easyjet investors have said they are holding out for at least £600m more from Castlelake, the US private equity firm whose bids have been brushed off by the budget airline.

Shareholders in the FTSE 250 firm said that they would not consider a takeover offer unless the offer reached at least £7 per share, valuing the firm at £5.3bn.

Castlelake has had three approaches slapped down by Easyjet, with its latest bid offering £6.25 per share, valuing the carrier at £4.7bn.

“I think they’ll engage if the price is at seven plus. If you look at the book value of the fleet, the holiday business, the price should be nearer seven than six,” one large investor in the firm told the Financial Times.

The private equity firm’s £6.25 bid was rejected by Easyjet on Saturday but the bidder broke cover on Monday to take the offer public, calling on shareholders to urge the airline to engage.

Castlelake claims that its latest offer “substantially de-risks the execution of the Company’s business plan”. 

But the airline has accused the bidder of attempting to acquire it “on the cheap,” claiming that its approaches fail to reflect the firm’s “position of strength”.

Easyjet’s board is “probably thinking about in theory what their valuation could be in two to three years. I’m sure they could do some maths and get quite a lot higher than 625p,” another shareholder said.

But one investor said that they were “surprised” that the airline has not yet engaged with its suitor, adding: “My sense is that your job is to engage in these sorts of areas.”

Easyjet is planning to meet with several shareholders in the coming days to gauge their reaction to Castlelake’s latest offer, the FT has reported.

The bidder claims the airline’s shares have not reached £6.25 – the value of its latest offer – since February 2022. Easyjet’s shares fell one per cent on Tuesday’s market open to £5.13.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at stockbroker Interactive Investor, told City PM that Easyjet has “made it quite clear” that Castelake’s previous approaches have undershot their expectations.

“As the end of the runway approaches, it seems that Castlelake may need to improve their offer,” he said. 

Hunter added that the regulatory requirement that Easyjet is majority owned by EU citizens “complicates” this deal. 

It has previously been speculated that Castlelake may partner with a European airline in its bid for the carrier and British Airways owner IAG said last week that competition rules would make it “very difficult” for it to take part.

Russ Mould, investment director at stock broker AJ Bell, told City PM that “it is easy to see” why Castlelake would bid for Easyjet, because it “looks cheap compared to a basket of European competitors”.

“The flipside is that easyJet’s shareholders will be wary of selling too cheaply,” he said, adding: “It is unlikely that the valuation numbers will escape the attentions of easyJet’s founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Iannou, who may prove unwilling to sell his stake in the absence of a very, very generous premium to the undisturbed share price.”