LUTON — Castlelake made a public all-cash offer of 625p per share for easyJet, valuing the airline at just over £4.7bn. EasyJet's board rejected the offer on Sunday.

This marked Castlelake's third offer that easyJet has rejected, with previous offers made at 560p and 600p per share. Castlelake announced the bid publicly so easyJet shareholders could evaluate it before a takeover deadline on Friday. Under City takeover rules, Castlelake has until 5 p.m. on June 26 to announce whether it intends to make an offer for easyJet. "Castlelake expected that the third proposal would elicit prompt engagement from the easyJet board," the firm said. "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."

EasyJet stated that Castlelake is trying to buy the airline "on the cheap." "The board of easyJet carefully considered the third proposal with its advisers and concluded that it is highly opportunistic, delivered against the backdrop of easyJet's temporarily depressed share price, and still fundamentally undervalues easyJet and its prospects," the airline said. "The premium, multiple and future share price analyses presented by Castlelake are based primarily on Middle East conflict-affected share prices, short-term earnings and analyst reports."

Castlelake partnered with two investors to meet EU regulations requiring European airlines to be majority-owned by investors within the region, a rule still applicable to easyJet after Brexit. Peter Bellew, formerly chief operating officer at Riyadh Air, easyJet, and Ryanair, and former chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, is one partner. Bellew runs Dooks Capital, a seed investment and advisory firm focused on AI in aviation, founded last September and operating out of Saudi Arabia. The second partner is Mark Breen, chief executive of Dublin-based Oneiros Aerospace, whose previous experience includes working for Oman Air.

"The third proposal includes these EU national partners investing and participating in the proposed acquisition of the company through their ownership and control of an EU company," Castlelake said. "The EU Partner will hold a controlling shareholding in the overall structure. The EU Partner will at all times be owned and controlled by EU nationals." The firm added, "This proposed structure is consistent with structures adopted by a number of other European airlines that are subject to the same EU ownership rules as the company. Castlelake is confident that this is a clear, deliverable solution to ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements." EasyJet described the proposed ownership structure as "opaque."

Shares in easyJet lost about 20% of their value since the start of the year before news of takeover interest emerged. EasyJet's share price increased by 36% over the last month and gained 2% to 515p early on Monday morning. Castlelake, headquartered in Minneapolis, manages $36bn (£27bn) in assets and is led by executive chair and founder Rory O'Neill. EasyJet, Europe's second-biggest low-cost airline behind Ryanair, is headquartered in Luton, England, and employs more than 16,000 people globally.