Prime Highlights-
- EasyJet accepts €6.6 billion cash takeover bid from US private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
- Deal values easyJet shares at €8.35 each, expected to close by first quarter 2027.
Key Facts-
- Founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou retains equity stake, Apollo capped at 49.9 percent under airline ownership rules.
- Rival bidder Castlelake withdraws, clearing path for Apollo’s offer to proceed.
Background-
Budget carrier easyJet has formally accepted a £5.7 billion, or roughly €6.6 billion, takeover bid from US private equity firm Apollo Global Management. The airline confirmed that both boards had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition.
The offer values easyJet shares at £7.15, around €8.35, per share in cash. The companies expect the deal to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
The confirmation followed rival bidder Castlelake’s decision to step back from the race for the airline, clearing the path for Apollo’s offer to move forward.
British-Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded easyJet in 1995 as a no-frills carrier offering low-cost fares across Europe. Under the takeover terms, he and his family will hold onto an equity stake in a new holding company once the deal completes. Apollo’s own shareholding will be capped at up to 49.9 percent to meet UK and European airline ownership rules, while an EU Trust will hold up to 5 percent.
EasyJet’s earliest flights connected its London Luton headquarters with Glasgow and Edinburgh, before the carrier expanded into international routes to Amsterdam, Nice, and Barcelona in 1996. Three decades on, the airline has grown into one of Europe’s largest, running a fleet of more than 300 aircraft.