EasyJet Shareholders Approve £5.7 Billion Apollo Takeover Bid
EasyJet shareholders have overwhelmingly approved a £5.7 billion buyout offer from Apollo Global Management, paving the way to delist the airline from the London Stock Exchange after 26 years.
EasyJet shareholders overwhelmingly approved a takeover bid from U.S. investment firm Apollo Global Management, valuing the British low-cost carrier at £5.7 billion (about $7.5 billion).
The vote paves the way for one of the largest private buyout deals in European aviation history and marks the end of easyJet's 26-year run as a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange.
The Path to the Deal
The agreement follows a fierce bidding war with U.S. investment firm Castlelake, which previously offered around £5.5 billion. Castlelake withdrew from the race in August after Apollo submitted a more attractive cash offer of 715 pence per share, representing an 81% premium over the pre-report share price.
Founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and his family, who hold roughly a 15% stake, chose to support the Apollo bid despite past tensions with the board. Meanwhile, aviation trade unions in Britain and Europe voiced concerns that the shift to private equity ownership could trigger wage cuts, layoffs, and worsening employment conditions.
Regulatory Hurdles Ahead
During shareholder meetings in London, 97.07% of participating shares voted in favor of the scheme of arrangement.
Despite clearing the shareholder hurdle, the transaction still requires formal British court approval and regulatory clearance in Brussels. European aviation rules mandate that airlines operating within the bloc must be majority-owned by EU nationals. Because Apollo is an American fund, a specialized ownership structure is being reviewed to ensure easyJet retains its internal European flight rights.
EasyJet and Apollo expect the transaction and the delisting from the London Stock Exchange to be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2027. Notably, the airline suspended all flights to Israel in April 2024 amid security tensions and has yet to resume operations.
