Apollo has agreed to buy budget airline Easyjet for £5.7bn in a shock deal that usurps an earlier bid from alternative asset manager Castlelake. Easyjet said on Friday that it had accepted an all-cash offer from the US investment behemoth valuing the airline at 714p a share, trumping the 690p
Ali Lyon
Friday 10 July 2026 7:25 am | Updated: Friday 10 July 2026 7:26 am
Apollo has agreed to buy budget airline Easyjet for £5.7bn in a shock deal that usurps an earlier bid from alternative asset manager Castlelake.
Easyjet said on Friday that it had accepted an all-cash offer from the US investment behemoth valuing the airline at 714p a share, trumping the 690p a share bid it received from Castelake just days earlier.
The offer represents an 80 per cent premium on the airline’s closing share price Castlelake’s interest in Easyjet first emerged last month. The carrier said Apollo’s bid “delivers a superior outcome for Easyjet shareholders”, setting up a potential bidding war between the two American investors.
The offer from Apollo – one of the world’s largest asset managers – “offers an attractive combination of value, strategic alignment and long-term stewardship of the business”, the carrier said in a statement.
“Accordingly the Easyjet board is no longer minded to recommend the Castlelake proposal.”
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