Shareholders at British budget airline easyJet have approved a deal worth £5.7 billion ($7.57 billion) for the private equity firm Apollo to take over the carrier. It will make the airline privately owned. Apollo Funds will hold up to 49.9% of the company, while rollover shareholders (choosing shares rather than cash), will hold between 45.1% and 49.9%. The EU Trust will hold up to 5%.
The airline says that the deal will be completed by the end of March, likely requiring regulatory approval. When it comes into effect, 26 years of easyJet’s presence on the London stock market will screech to a sudden halt.
Inside The £5.7 Billion Deal
97.07% of shareholders voted in favor of the takeover. The price paid was 715p ($9.50) per share. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded the airline in 1995 and owned 15% of the airline with his family. It is understood that he backed the takeover.
It is not surprising that the airline was looking for a buyer given that it had been consulting on proposals to axe approximately 50 roles at head office from its 2,300-strong team. EasyJet had previously been in contact with Castlelake, a US investment firm, about a takeover.
The table below shows the current easyJet fleet, according to Planespotters.net. It represents some of the assets that will come into Apollo’s control and is entirely made up of Airbus narrowbody jets. It has also previously flown Boeing 737 and 757, and British Aerospace BAe 146.
Aircraft type | Total in service | Average age (years) |
|---|---|---|
Airbus A319-100 | 44 | 18.3 |
Airbus A320-200 | 81 | 13.8 |
Airbus A320neo | 52 | 5.8 |
Airbus A321neo | 22 | 3.7 |
Total | 199 | 11.6 |
EasyJet has commented the following:
“EasyJet is pleased to announce that, at the Court Meeting and General Meeting held earlier today in connection with the Acquisition, the requisite majority of Scheme Shareholders voted to approve the Scheme at the Court Meeting and the requisite majority of easyJet Shareholders voted to pass the Resolution at the General Meeting.”
Who Is The Apollo Private Equity Firm?
The deal is being made with Eagle Bidco Ltd, a company that is indirectly owned by Apollo Funds and managed by affiliates of Apollo Capital Management, L.P. Apollo Funds is a US investment company. It is most active in the UK through its company, The Restaurant Group. This firm owns the Asian-style restaurant chain Wagamama.
Apollo began operations in 1990 and is currently headquartered in New York City. It ranked 29th in Private Equity International’s 2024 ranking of the world’s largest private equity firms.
In 2025, the company managed assets worth $840 billion with a net income of $3.5 billion. $99 billion of these assets were invested in private equity. These figures show that the easyJet purchase does not get close to breaking the bank for Apollo.
What We Know About How Apollo Will Manage The Airline
Reuters has reported that Apollo will maintain the status quo once they have acquired easyJet. It will remain a standalone business, with the branding remaining consistent. There should also be comparatively little upheaval for the company’s workers. The UK headquarters, along with the UK, Austrian and Swiss Air Operator Certificates will stay put. Apollo has also pledged to avoid redundancies in the first 12 months of its control over the airline.
Apollo has said it will help the airline by giving it access to additional capital. Becoming privately traded will also mean it can access longer-term planning. The essence of the strategy is to “do more” with what easyJet already has while ensuring it still offers customers a low-cost product, the Financial Times reports.
However, Apollo has some changes in mind. The first is a far more expansive loyalty program. The second is to introduce some premium elements on select routes.
