Announcement • Jul 12
Castlelake, L.P along with Peter Bellew and Mark Breen cancelled the acquisition of easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ). Castlelake, L.P along with Peter Bellew and Mark Breen proposed to acquire easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) for £5.3 billion on June 12, 2026. Castlelake, L.P along with Peter Bellew and Mark Breen reached an agreement in principle to acquire easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) July 4, 2026. As part of consideration £5.6 per share is being paid against common equity of easyJet plc. Cash consideration of £4.24 billion is bein paid. As of June 17, 2026 Castlelake submitted a second non-binding indicative proposal at an offer price of £6 for each easyJet share valuing it for £4.5 billion . As of June 20, 2026 Castlelake submitted a third non-binding indicative proposal at an offer price £6.25 for each easyJet share valuing it for £4.8 billion. Peter Bellew currently own 0.007% stake in easyJet. Castlelake's Third Proposal is expected to be fully funded through a combination of committed equity and debt facilities. The committed equity financing will come from funds managed or advised by Castlelake and will comprise a combination of existing Castlelake commitments and commitments from a small number of co-investors, as well as the EU Partner. In addition, Goldman Sachs has indicated that they are highly confident of being able to arrange the required debt financing. 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 ahead of the upcoming "Put-up or Shut-up" deadline at 26 June 2026. As of June 15, 2026, Castlelake welcomes the easyJet Board's constructive engagement and the nine-day extension to the "Put-up or Shut-up" deadline to no later than July 5, 2026. On July 5, 2026, easyJet plc has agreed in principle to a sweetened takeover where Castlelake, L.P submitted new offer at £6.90. On Sunday easyJet's board said that the latest bid was at "a value that the Board would be minded to recommend to easyJet shareholders and Castlelake now needed to submit its firm intention to make an offer by August 3, 2026.
The transaction is subject to consummation of due diligence investigation, Definitive agreement & antitrust approval.
Mark Sorrell and Owain Evans of Goldman Sachs International acted as financial; advisor for Castlelake, L.P. Milbank Holdings Limited and Slaughter and May acted as legal advisors for Castlelake, L.P. Equiniti Limited acted as Registrar. Simon Robey, Simon Warshaw and Daniel Zumbuehl of Evercore Partners Limited acted as financial advisors and Andrew Forrester and Matt Randall of BNPP Securities Services (UK branch) acted as financial advisor to BNPP Securities Services (UK branch) to easyJet plc
Castlelake, L.P along with Peter Bellew and Mark Breen cancelled the acquisition of easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) on July 10, 2026. Announcement • Jul 11
Apollo Management X, L.P. reached an agreement in principle to acquire easyJet plc for £5.5 billion. Apollo Management X, L.P. proposed to acquire easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) on July 8, 2026. Apollo Management X, L.P. reached an agreement in principle to acquire easyJet plc for £5.5 billion on July 10, 2026. A value of approximately £5.7 billion for the fully diluted ordinary share capital of easyJet is based on easyJet shareholders being entitled to receive cash consideration of £7.15 per easyJet share pursuant to the terms of the Proposed Cash Offer. As an alternative to receiving cash, and in recognition by Apollo of the importance of aligning the interests of participating easyJet shareholders with those of the Apollo Funds as long-term investors in the easyJet business, Apollo is proposing to offer eligible easyJet shareholders the opportunity to elect to roll their existing shareholding in easyJet into the vehicle through which the Apollo Funds would hold their investment in easyJet. The terms of any such Stub Equity Alternative, which would have voting rights, remain subject to further discussion and agreement. The Proposed Cash Offer is expected to be fully funded through a combination of committed equity and debt facilities. The committed equity financing will come from Apollo Funds. Barclays has provided a letter to Apollo indicating that they are highly confident of being able to arrange the required debt financing for the Cash Offer. In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, Apollo must, by no later than 5.00 p.m. on 7 August 2026, either announce a firm intention to make an offer for easyJet in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for easyJet, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. This deadline will only be extended with the consent of the Panel in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code.
The transaction is subject to the satisfaction or waiver by Apollo of a number of customary preconditions, including (among other things) the: (i) satisfactory completion of due diligence on easyJet; (ii) the agreement and finalisation of definitive documentation for the Proposed Transaction; (iii) confirmation from the easyJet Board that it will provide a unanimous recommendation to easyJet shareholders to vote in favour of the Proposed Transaction; and (iv) each member of the easyJet Board who holds easyJet shares giving an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour of the Proposed Transaction in respect of their easyJet shares. The easyJet Board has carefully considered the Proposed Cash Offer together with its financial advisers and has unanimously concluded that the financial terms of the Proposed Cash Offer are at a level that it would be minded to recommend to easyJet shareholders. The easyJet Board further believes that the Proposed Transaction offers an attractive combination of value, strategic alignment and long-term stewardship of the business. Accordingly, the easyJet Board is no longer minded to recommend the Castlelake Proposal.
Simon Robey, Simon Warshaw and Daniel Zumbuehl of Evercore Partners International LLP acted as financial advisor for easyJet plc. Andrew Forrester and Matt Randall of BNPP Securities Services acted as financial advisor for easyJet plc. Adrian Beidas, Benjamin Metzger and Nicola Tennent of Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank and Barclays Capital Inc. acted as financial advisor for Apollo Management X, L.P. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal advisor for easyJet plc. Clifford Chance LLP acted as legal advisor for Apollo Management X, L.P. 
