Bankers and advisers on Apollo Global Management's £5.7bn acquisition of easyJet are poised to collect £334mn in fees, making the airline deal one of the City's most lucrative takeovers this year. Apollo will cover £280mn — including £190mn for financing — while easyJet pays £54mn, according to the scheme document released Thursday.
Key advisers include Barclays, PJT Partners and Citigroup for Apollo, with communications firm FGS and law firm Paul Weiss. Evercore's Sir Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw, BNP Paribas, Panmure Liberum, Peel Hunt, Teneo and Clifford Chance advised easyJet. The US private-equity firm outbid rival Castlelake this summer, pledging to take the carrier upmarket and delist it after more than two decades on the London Stock Exchange.
Regulatory constraints require EU majority ownership, prompting a revised board structure: ten directors with four Apollo nominees, two shareholder representatives and two appointed by founder Sir Stelios Haji‑Ioannou, who will roll his 15% stake into the private company for a 45‑49.9% holding. The fee haul trails only EQT's £370mn from the Intertek takeover, as global M&A advisory revenue reaches an estimated $115.6bn year‑to‑date, up 11% annually.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing