{"id":19044,"date":"2026-08-07T12:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/apollo-global-agrees-7-7-billion-takeover-of-easyjet-as-castlelake-walks-away-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T12:35:12","slug":"apollo-global-agrees-7-7-billion-takeover-of-easyjet-as-castlelake-walks-away-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/apollo-global-agrees-7-7-billion-takeover-of-easyjet-as-castlelake-walks-away-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Apollo Global Agrees $7.7 Billion Takeover of EasyJet as Castlelake Walks Away \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"S\">\n<h3 id=\"h-apollo-global-management-has-agreed-to-buy-easyjet-in-a-deal-valuing-the-european-budget-airline-at-approximately-5-7-billion-7-7-billion-rival-private-equity-firm-castlelake-abandoned-its-pursuit-on-thursday-without-giving-a-reason\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Apollo Global Management<\/strong> has agreed to buy <strong>easyJet<\/strong> in a deal valuing the European budget airline at approximately <strong>\u00a35.7 billion ($7.7 billion)<\/strong>. Rival private equity firm Castlelake abandoned its pursuit on Thursday without giving a reason.<\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cash offer ends months of uncertainty surrounding one of Europe\u2019s largest low-cost carriers as the industry faces rising costs linked to the war in Iran. EasyJet becomes the latest London-listed company taken private by private equity, continuing a trend of UK firms moving into private ownership while the FTSE 100 trades at a discount to US markets.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h-apollo-tops-castlelake-s-bid\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apollo Tops Castlelake\u2019s Bid<\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apollo\u2019s \u00a35.7 billion proposal beat Castlelake\u2019s earlier \u00a35.5 billion offer. Castlelake had submitted five bids before Apollo entered the process in July and won the backing of easyJet\u2019s board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EasyJet founder <strong>Stelios Haji-Ioannou<\/strong> confirmed his family\u2019s support:<br \/>\u201cHaving carefully reviewed the proposal by Apollo, my family members and I have decided to support the recommended acquisition announced by the easyJet board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The board, advised by Evercore, unanimously recommended the offer as fair and reasonable. Non-executive chair Stephen Hester said the deal \u201cdelivers immediate, certain and attractive value for shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Apollo, which manages about $1.05 trillion in assets and has previously invested in Sun Country Airlines, Aerom\u00e9xico and Atlas Air, plans to accelerate easyJet\u2019s growth under private ownership \u2014 including its fast-expanding holidays business.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h-eu-ownership-rules-remain-a-key-question\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">EU Ownership Rules Remain a Key Question<\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Investors and regulators have raised concerns about how Apollo will satisfy European Union airline ownership rules. EasyJet\u2019s flying rights within the EU require the airline to remain majority owned and controlled by EU interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the proposed structure:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Haji-Ioannou family and other remaining shareholders will hold between 45.1% and 49.9% of the ordinary capital<\/li>\n<li>An EU management trust will hold up to 5%<\/li>\n<li>Apollo\u2019s funds will hold the rest, capped at a maximum of 49.9%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EasyJet\u2019s main base is in Britain. The UK Civil Aviation Authority confirmed it has engaged with the parties involved in the deal.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h-share-price-reaction-and-analyst-views\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Share Price Reaction and Analyst Views<\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EasyJet shares have risen more than 65% since takeover interest first became public. They closed up 2.7% at 670 pence on Thursday \u2014 still below the offer price. The deal represents an 81% premium to the \u00a33.94 closing price on 28 May, the last trading day before Castlelake\u2019s interest emerged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aviation analyst James Halstead noted that the current share price reflects market concerns over execution risk linked to ownership and control rules.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analysts also highlighted potential benefits of privatisation. Andrea Giuricin, CEO of TRA Consulting, said a delisting would free easyJet from quarterly earnings pressure and reduce exposure to turbulence once higher jet fuel costs feed through into fares. Halstead added that Apollo could bring stronger funding and more flexible aircraft leasing arrangements.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<div>\n\t\t<strong>Tags:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\tairline ownership control, Apollo $7.7 billion deal, Apollo Global Management, aviation industry, Castlelake, easyJet acquisition, easyJet shares, easyJet takeover, EU ownership rules, European budget airline, FTSE 100 privatisation, jet fuel costs, low-cost carrier, private equity airline deal, Stelios Haji-Ioannou\t<\/div>\n<\/footer><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/08\/07\/apollo-buys-easyjet-7-7-billion-castlelake-withdraws\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apollo Global Management has agreed to buy easyJet in a deal valuing the European budget airline at approximately \u00a35.7 billion ($7.7 billion). Rival private equity firm Castlelake abandoned its pursuit on Thursday without giving a reason. The cash offer ends months of uncertainty surrounding one of Europe\u2019s largest low-cost carriers as the industry faces rising &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Apollo Global Agrees $7.7 Billion Takeover of EasyJet as Castlelake Walks Away \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/07\/apollo-global-agrees-7-7-billion-takeover-of-easyjet-as-castlelake-walks-away-greek-city-times\/#more-19044\" aria-label=\"Read more about Apollo Global Agrees $7.7 Billion Takeover of EasyJet as Castlelake Walks Away \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-26.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}