Castlelake weighs easyJet bid as private credit group expands aviation ambitions

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
Castlelake considers easyJet bid

Highlights

Castlelake is considering a potential takeover offer for easyJet, triggering a 10% rise in easyJet shares despite not yet approaching the board.
EasyJet’s net book value of owned assets stands at £5 billion, with 86% of its A320neo fleet owned, making it attractive for leasing and disposals.
EU ownership rules pose a structural hurdle to any bid, since Castlelake’s investor base is global despite its London and Dublin operations.

Bid interest puts easyJet in play

As reported by the Financial Times, Castlelake is considering a possible offer for easyJet, a move that has pushed the low-cost carrier into the spotlight for dealmakers and airline executives assessing a potential takeover. The airline says the interest is “highly opportunistic”, and Castlelake has not approached easyJet’s board and warns it may still decide not to bid.

Even so, the disclosure shifts attention to an airline whose shares have fallen sharply over the past year amid pressure from Ryanair and Wizz Air and as jet fuel prices have doubled after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran. EasyJet shares rose 10% on Monday after the potential interest became public.

An acquisition would mark a notable change for Castlelake, which has mainly operated as a creditor and aviation finance investor rather than as a buyer of a major airline. Industry executives say the firm is likely to be drawn by easyJet’s owned aircraft and its pipeline of future Airbus deliveries, assets that remain valuable because of strong demand for jets.

EasyJet’s latest financial statement shows a net book value of owned assets of 5 billion pounds, with 86% of its next-generation Airbus A320neo aircraft owned. Those planes could support leasing or disposal options, strengthening the financial logic of any deal.

Aviation portfolio and regulatory hurdles

Castlelake was founded in 2005 by Evan Carruthers and Rory O’Neill, former senior investment managers at CarVal, Cargill’s debt investing unit. The firm has grown into a 37 billion-dollar private credit manager focused on asset-backed finance, real estate and aviation, and investor documents reviewed by the Financial Times show it employs more than 250 people.

The group owns and manages about 375 aircraft and leases jets to carriers including Etihad, Qantas, Air India Express, Frontier and Viva, with more than a quarter of its leases tied to European airlines. It sold a 5 billion-dollar aircraft portfolio to Avolon in 2024 and says it has invested in more than 900 planes since launch.

Still, any easyJet bid is likely to face a significant structural obstacle because EU rules require control of European airlines to rest mainly with people or entities in Europe. While Castlelake has operations in London and Dublin, its funds draw investors globally, leaving uncertainty over how it could satisfy that ownership test.

Beyond aviation, Castlelake also has exposure to consumer loans, commercial real estate and small business lending, areas that have become increasingly attractive across Wall Street’s private credit market. Brookfield bought a majority equity stake in the firm in 2024, adding it to a broader 365 billion-dollar credit platform that also includes Oaktree and Primary Wave.

The firm has also been pulled into more troubled situations in recent months, including the unraveling of UK bridging lender Market Financial Solutions and the collapse of U.S. car parts maker First Brands. Those cases underscore the breadth of Castlelake’s asset-backed lending activity as it weighs a much more visible move into airline ownership.

Our earlier article on renewed UK supermarket consolidation explained how private equity owners of Asda and Morrisons are nearing typical exit timelines, reviving speculation about rival-led acquisitions. We noted that any large-scale tie-up would face heavy regulatory scrutiny given the chains’ size and the impact on competition, even as the strategic logic of scale and ownership turnover returns to the forefront.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.