In what can only be described as the financial equivalent of getting ghosted at the altar, Castlelake learned this week that their carefully crafted takeover bid for EasyJet was not, in fact, the one. Enter Apollo Global Management, stage left, with a offer so compelling that EasyJet’s board apparently forgot they had already said yes to someone else.
This is what modern M&A (mergers and acquisitions—basically one company buying another) has become: a speed-dating event where billions of pounds are the compliments and rejection emails arrive via press release. Castlelake spent weeks believing they were in an exclusive relationship with the budget airline. They had the ring. They had the venue. They had already mentally redecorated the in-flight magazine.
Then Apollo showed up with a better number on a piece of paper, and suddenly Castlelake was the one frantically texting “but what about us?” into the void.
The absurdity here is not that a better offer came along—that is capitalism working as designed. The absurdity is that we have reached a point where a company’s commitment to a deal is worth approximately as much as a text saying “let’s hang out sometime.” EasyJet’s board did not even have the decency to let Castlelake down gently. They just pivoted. One day you are the chosen one, the next day you are explaining to your investors why you are not, actually, acquiring a European airline.
For the rest of us watching from the sidelines, the real takeaway is simpler: if you are waiting for an airline deal to close, do not hold your breath. These things have more false starts than a Formula One qualifying session, and the only people making money are the lawyers.