Apollo has agreed to acquire easyJet for £5.7bn in cash, outbidding Castlelake's £5.5bn proposal and ending months of speculation over the UK low-cost carrier's future. The £7.15 per share offer represents a 3.6% premium over Castlelake's final £6.90 per share bid, which the easyJet board had tentatively accepted on Sunday before Apollo intervened with a superior proposal.

The deal values easyJet's equity at roughly £5.7bn on a fully diluted basis and delivers a 42% premium to the airline's undisturbed share price before Castlelake's interest became public. easyJet's board said it is "inclined to recommend" the Apollo offer to shareholders, a sharp reversal after rejecting four previous Castlelake approaches as undervaluing the business. Castlelake, a US private credit firm, had until August 3 to firm up its bid under UK takeover rules.

The acquisition hands Apollo a carrier with prime takeoff and landing slots at Europe's busiest airports and a substantial Airbus order book — assets that have long made easyJet a takeover target despite a share price that has lagged rivals Ryanair and IAG since the pandemic grounded aviation in 2020. Apollo's willingness to pay above Castlelake's ceiling suggests confidence in a post-pandemic traffic recovery and the strategic value of easyJet's slot portfolio.

For investors, the bidding war underscores how scarce airport infrastructure and fleet commitments command premium valuations even when earnings remain depressed. Apollo's victory also signals that private equity remains willing to deploy capital into European aviation despite macroeconomic uncertainty, betting that slot-constrained airports will drive pricing power as capacity tightens.