Easyjet has agreed to a £5.7 billion (€6.65 billion) takeover offer from Apollo after its rival Castlelake walked away from the bidding war for the low-cost airline.
The cash offer valuing the airline’s shares at £7.15 each has been backed by the carrier’s board, and by its founder and largest shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.
The announcement came shortly after Castlelake said it was abandoning its bid to acquire Easyjet, a move that ended a months-long takeover battle.
Easyjet chairman Stephen Hester said Apollo’s offer “appropriately recognises the quality of the business we have built and delivers immediate, certain and attractive value for shareholders”. He said the board “has carefully evaluated the proposal from Apollo alongside Easyjet’s stand-alone prospects”.
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Apollo said it believes Easyjet is “one of the most attractive businesses in the global aviation sector” due to its brand and positions in “attractive” markets and that it saw “significant long-term growth potential”.
Haji-Ioannou, whose family holds around 15 per cent of the shares, said he backed the Apollo deal and was “pleased with Apollo’s strategic intentions for the Easyjet business, which aim to create more growth”.
Under the deal, he will roll the investment over into the airline as it becomes privately held. “My family and I intend to remain invested as long-term major shareholders of Easyjet for the next chapter in the company’s journey,” he added.
The US private capital groups had vied to buy Easyjet, which has operations in Belfast and Derry, with Castlelake tabling multiple offers in recent months. Last month its £5.5 billion proposal to take over the airline was surpassed by Apollo, which offered around £5.7 billion.
On Thursday, Castlelake said that “after careful consideration” it does not intend to make an offer for the airline.
It added: “Castlelake is very appreciative of the constructive engagement with the Easyjet board and management team, and would like to thank them for their time and consideration of this potential transaction.”
Early in July, Castlelake believed it had secured the backing of Easyjet’s board to make a bid for the airline at £6.90 a share. But only weeks later, Easyjet announced that its board was inclined to recommend a higher preliminary offer of £7.15 a share from Apollo.
Castlelake and Apollo had been given until Friday to table a firm offer for the carrier under a deadline set by the UK takeover panel.
Some Easyjet investors had hoped that the involvement of two possible buyers would lead to a bidding war that could drive the offer price even higher.
When Castlelake’s first interest emerged, shareholders had said that a price above £7 a share – or around £5.3 billion – would be a level they were seeking. Easyjet’s shares have been some of the hardest hit among airlines after the Iran war started in February.
The airline’s shares rose 3.1 per cent to 672p on Thursday afternoon after the announcement that Apollo had formalised its bid. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
