Apollo agrees £5.7 billion takeover of easyJet as Castlelake walks away
Apollo Global Management has agreed a recommended cash acquisition of easyJet valuing the airline at approximately £5.7 billion ($7.6 billion), built around an ownership structure designed to keep the buyout inside EU airline ownership and control rules.
The announcement was published on August 6, 2026, a day before the deadline both bidders faced and hours after Castlelake confirmed it would not bid.
Terms of the acquisition
Each easyJet share will be acquired for £7.15 in cash by Eagle Bidco Ltd, a Jersey-incorporated company indirectly owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Capital Management, matching the price Apollo indicated when it outflanked Castlelake on July 10, 2026. The deal will be implemented by a court-approved scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006.
The price represents an 81% premium to the unaffected closing price of £3.94, 80% to the 90-day volume-weighted average of £3.97, 22% to the £5.88 close on June 10, 2025, the highest in the preceding four years, and 54% to the £4.64 close on February 27, 2026, the last business day before the Middle East conflict began.
Shareholders may instead elect unlisted rollover shares in Topco, one per easyJet share, for their entire holding. Elections are capped at 49.9% of Topco’s issued ordinary share capital and scaled back pro rata if oversubscribed.
The founder family rolls over
The Haji-Ioannou family concert party, comprising Sir Stelios, Clelia and Polys Haji-Ioannou and vehicles including easyGroup Holdings and easyGroup Ltd, has irrevocably undertaken to vote for the scheme and elect the rollover across 116,061,871 shares, about 15.31% of issued capital. That election stands even if a higher competing offer emerges. Directors holding 427,767 shares, about 0.06%, have also committed.
Ownership capped to protect the licenses
Apollo expects Topco to be held by rollover shareholders at between 45.1% and 49.9%, an EU trust at up to 5% under a management incentive plan, and the Apollo funds at no more than 49.9%. The Topco articles and shareholders’ agreement carry nationality declarations, weighted voting, disenfranchisement, compulsory transfer and buyback provisions, and a mechanism to remove any director who is not an EU national. The compulsory provisions do not apply to Apollo or its funds.
Apollo has committed to no change to the location or functions of easyJet’s UK headquarters or its air operator certificates in the UK, Austria and Switzerland.
Conditions and timing
Completion requires shareholder approval, court sanction, aviation license clearances, merger control in Austria, Egypt, Germany and the UK, and foreign direct investment approvals including in Austria, France, Italy, Malta, Spain and the UK. The scheme document is due within 28 days, with completion expected by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Evercore advised the board that the cash terms are fair and reasonable, and the directors intend to recommend the scheme unanimously. They make no recommendation on the rollover alternative. Non-executive chair Sir Stephen Hester said the offer “delivers immediate, certain and attractive value for shareholders.”The post Apollo agrees £5.7 billion takeover of easyJet as Castlelake walks away appeared first on AeroTime.
Apollo Global Management has agreed a recommended cash acquisition of easyJet valuing the airline at approximately £5.7 billion…
The post Apollo agrees £5.7 billion takeover of easyJet as Castlelake walks away appeared first on AeroTime.
