Castlelake won qualified backing from easyJet's board for a potential take-private valuing the UK budget carrier at £5.5bn ($7.3bn) on a fully diluted basis. The £6.90 per share proposal — Castlelake's fifth attempt after earlier approaches were dismissed as opportunistic — triggered a roughly 10% share jump. The board said it would recommend the offer to shareholders if Castlelake announces a firm intention on these terms, though the statement falls short of a binding bid under Rule 2.4 of the UK Takeover Code.

The ownership structure reflects EU airline ownership rules: a bidding vehicle held 49% by Castlelake and co-investors including Brookfield Asset Management, with the remaining 51% controlled by EU nationals such as industry veterans Peter Bellew and Mark Breen. This arrangement aims to keep the carrier majority-owned within the bloc post-delisting. Castlelake pledged "best endeavours" to secure regulatory clearances and endorsed easyJet's fleet modernization as central to competitiveness.

The Takeover Panel extended the "put up or shut up" deadline to 5.00 pm on August 3, by which Castlelake must table a firm offer or walk away. Goldman Sachs advises Castlelake; Evercore, BNP Paribas, and Panmure Liberum advise easyJet. Whether the fifth approach succeeds now hinges on converting principle into a binding offer before the deadline, with due diligence and definitive documentation still pending.