A320neo easyJet MSN8759 ferry flight scaled
“Alternative investment firm” Castlelake has confirmed that it is in the early stages of considering a possible offer on UK low-cost airline easyJet. It responds to “recent speculation”, it said in a statement on Friday.
The news must have come as a surprise even to easyJet itself, as Castlelake says that “no approach has been made to the Board of easyJet”. The Minneapolis-based firm adds: “There can be no certainty that any offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any offer.”
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Start My Test Flight →Castlelake says that under UK regulations or code, it has until 5 pm on June 26 to “either announce a firm intention to make an offer for the Company (…) or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.”
A potential investor in easyJet or a partial sale has been the subject of speculation for some years, but each time ended with the airline denying that it was up for sale. Last October, Swiss shipping company MSC was believed to be considering a full or partial takeover. easyJet didn’t wish to speculate on these rumours, after which speculation ended.
A reason that rumours keep popping up is that easyJet’s position is perceived to have weakened over the past five years. The airline reported a £552 million headline loss for HY1 of FY26. Since 2021, the share price has dropped from £820 to £398. At the end of March, liquidity stood at £4.7 billion and debt excluding lease liabilities at £2.0 billion.
Risk factors
In a supplement to a February offering related to a £4,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme, easyJet identified some risk factors. In an update on May 28, the airline mentioned the potential impact of the current high fuel prices: “The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is impacting fuel supplies across the world, and if there are shortages at airports that easyJet uses for refuelling, this could have significant operational and financial impacts. Widespread shortages of fuel may also force easyJet to cancel flights and impact the demand for flights.”
It could be in this context that Castlelake, either on its own or together with other potential investors, is considering an offer on easyJet. The company had taken a look at investing in Spirit Airlines but backed off. In 2023, Castlelake bought 32 percent of SAS Scandinavian Airlines with a consortium that also included Air France-KLM, Lind Invest, and the Danish government. In July last year, Castlelake and Lind sold their stake to Air France-KLM, which would get 60.5 percent of SAS. This is still subject to regulatory approval.
Fleet
Castlelake also owns a sizable fleet of – mostly narrowbody – aircraft, which are leased to various airlines in the world. In 2023, it owned and managed around 250 aircraft valued at $18 billion, but it sold 118 aircraft in September 2024 to Avolon. This transaction was completed in January 2025. In August 2025, Castlelake established Merit AirFinance to “provide debt capital to airlines and leasing companies for new and used aviation assets.”
In January 2025, Castlelake financed a loan to Virgin Atlantic that was secured for around $400 million by one Airbus A350-1000 and nine Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.
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