Overview
- Apollo reached a recommended cash deal on Thursday, Aug 6, offering 715p per share to buy easyJet for about £5.7 billion and take the airline off the London market.
- Shareholders may choose the 715p cash option or elect unlisted rollover shares in Topco on a one‑for‑one basis with the rollover capped at 49.9% of Topco and subject to scaling if elections exceed that cap.
- easyJet’s board unanimously recommended the scheme and adviser Evercore judged the cash offer fair and reasonable while the Haji‑Ioannou family gave an irrevocable undertaking covering roughly 15.3% of shares to support the vote.
- Completion must win a shareholder vote, court sanction and regulatory clearances in Austria, Egypt, Germany and the UK, and the deal includes European ownership measures such as an EU trust and caps on Apollo’s stake to meet nationality rules.
- The sale follows months of bidding pressure and weak near‑term profits for easyJet driven by higher jet fuel costs and softer demand, a backdrop that has drawn private equity interest and could prompt further consolidation in the European budget airline sector.