The board of directors of EasyJet has reached a pre-agreement with the US investment fund Castlelake to accept a Public Takeover Bid (OPA) at 6.9 pounds per share (about 8.07 euros), which has unleashed a whirlwind of speculation about the company's future.
Easyjet has 56 weekly flights to Lanzarote. The majority, a total of 36 flights are with the United Kingdom, twelve with the peninsula, four with Italy, and another four with Switzerland.
Castlelake, which has the financial muscle of giants like Brookfield and Goldman Sachs, has until August 3 to formalize the offer.
Experts are divided into two camps. On the one hand, there are those who believe that the new owner will seek to consolidate the brand to challenge Ryanair in the low-cost segment.
On the other hand, and this is the theory gaining more traction in financial circles, it is suspected that Castlelake could opt for a partial dismantling strategy: selling off the airline's assets to feed and strengthen its true core business, aircraft rental and leasing.
For Lanzarote, the British airline is a key piece for the island's connectivity. In particular with the United Kingdom, the island's main source market for tourists, which represents half of all travelers visiting Lanzarote.
To circumvent the strict post-Brexit EU regulations, the North American fund would control 49% of the airline, while the remaining 51% would remain in European hands.
To ensure that operational control remains European in DNA, Castlelake has surrounded itself with the Irishmen Peter Bellew and Mark Breen, two old acquaintances of commercial aviation on the continent.
With a valuation of around 6,430 million euros, easyJet is far from giants like Ryanair (29,000 million) or the IAG group (26,000 million), but it surpasses airlines like Air France-KLM or its direct rival in London, Wizz Air.