![\"EasyJet](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EasyJet-aircraft-at-Nice-Airport.png\")
EasyJet will be acquired\u00a0by the American private equity firm Apollo in a \u00a35.7 billion deal after rival suitor Castlelake withdrew its interest.<\/p>\n
The investment fund had offered \u00a35.5bn for the budget airline but this was gatecrashed by Apollo last month, leading the EasyJet board to switch its recommendation. <\/p>\n
Castlelake confirmed it was walking away ahead of tomorrow\u2019s extended deadline.<\/p>\n
Apollo said it had secured irrevocable undertakings that Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou\u2019s family, the largest shareholder which accounts for 15.3% of voting shares, would support the bid.<\/p>\n
Mr Haji-Ioannou, 59, and his family will switch their stake into a private vehicle that will own the airline after its listing is cancelled. <\/p>\n
This is achieved through Apollo\u2019s terms which enable investors to either accept the full cash offer, or swap their stock for so-called \u201crollover shares\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Haji-Ioannou said: \u201cI am pleased with Apollo\u2019s strategic intentions for the easyJet business, which aim to create more growth. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that Apollo, as one of the most well-resourced and experienced institutional investors in the world, has decided to back and grow easyJet\u2026is testament to the strength of the easy brand and the business model of easyGroup.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family and I intend to remain invested as long-term major shareholders of easyJet for the next chapter in the company\u2019s journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson, said: \u201cHaving fewer bums on more expensive seats has created the kind of turbulence that private equity is always sensitive to, and as EasyJet\u2019s share price dropped the European airline began to look like an increasingly tasty morsel.<\/p>\n
\u201cCue not one, but two suitors entering the ring, with Castlelake unsuccessful after seemingly being gazumped following months of negotiations which almost got across the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end it was Appollo that came up with the magic number of \u00a37.15 per share. That\u2019s a significant premium to where EasyJet\u2019s shares were trading before the Iran war, but it\u2019s a figure that\u2019s still woefully short of the company\u2019s pre-pandemic highs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough there are no guarantees those halcyon days will return, with so many pressures on the airline. EasyJet is still recovering from those months when planes were grounded, despite the robust recovery as people rediscovered their love of travel and placed holidays firmly in the \u2018required spending\u2019 bracket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst there are still significant hurdles for this deal to clear, not least European regulators with strict requirements for ownership of airlines, the potential loss of another well-known name from London markets will be seen as a blow. <\/p>\n
\u201cAir travel might not be as sexy as space travel, but retail investors understand it and names like EasyJet can\u2019t easily be replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n
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