August 26, 2026 | Industrials | Europe | Active
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management has agreed to acquire easyJet, seeing off a months-long rival approach from another US financial sponsor, Castlelake. Under the agreed terms with Apollo, easyJet shareholders will receive 715p in cash, an 81.5% takeover premium to the company’s 394p undisturbed price on 28-May-26. The consideration is cum-dividend and subject to a downward adjustment if any dividend is paid before completion (the next one, per Bloomberg estimates, is 15.1p per share and will trade ex-dividend 25-Feb-27). T he easyJet board intends to unanimously recommend the offer and Apollo will fund the cash consideration through equity and interim debt facilities. Certain shareholders can additionally elect to roll over their stakes into unlisted Topco shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to proration: “as an alternative to the Cash Offer, eligible easyJet Shareholders (being those easyJet Shareholders who are not Restricted Shareholders) may elect, in respect of all (but not part) of their holding of easyJet Shares (subject to any Scaling Back as a result of excess valid elections for the Alternative Offer exceeding the Alternative Offer Maximum), to receive (in lieu of the cash consideration under the Cash Offer) unlisted Rollover Shares (being Topco Ordinary Shares).” Rollover shares will carry a three-year lock-up, after which transfers to permitted third parties remain subject to a right of first offer in favour of any Topco shareholder holding 20% or more. easyJet’s board has not yet formed a view on the alternative offer and Barclays, acting for Apollo, will supply a fair value estimate for the rollover shares in the scheme document. The Haji-Ioannou family concert party (easyJet’s Cypriot founder and family), holding 15.31% of easyJet, has given an irrevocable undertaking to elect for the alternative offer; this will lapse if a superior proposal is ...
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