EasyJet suggests it will agree to £5.5bn takeover by US investment firm

Agreement in principle with Castlelake follows several rejected offers and means UK’s biggest low-cost carrier will be taken private The airline easyJet has said it intends to accept a £5.5bn takeover offer by the US investment firm Castlelake that would take Britain’s biggest low-cost carrier private. The companies announced an agreement in principle on Sunday evening in a statement, and requested an extension to a deadline to complete the deal formally. The agreement came after weeks of negotiations and several rejected offers. The airline, a member of Britain’s FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies, said it was minded to accept an offer at £6.90 a share. If the deal completes, it could be worth nearly £800m for easyJet’s founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who still owns more than 15% of the company along with his family. EasyJet had rejected an offer of £6.50 a share 10 days earlier, saying it substantially undervalued the business. The first bid was worth £5.60 a share. The company’s shares were priced at £5.58 when stock markets closed on Friday, giving it a market value of £4.2bn. The last time easyJet’s shares traded above £6.90 was in early 2022, during the