The US private equity firm Apollo has agreed a surprise £5.7bn deal to buy the budget airline easyJet, gatecrashing an existing sale process and beating a rival bid from the US private credit group Castlelake. EasyJet's board has said it is inclined to recommend Apollo's cash offer of £7.15 per share to shareholders, marking a significant twist in the airline's move to be taken private. The development matters because it triggers a bidding war for one of Britain's best-known low-cost carriers and points to a higher payout for its investors.

Apollo's offer tops Castlelake's latest proposal of £6.90 per share, submitted on 4 July 2026, and represents a 22% premium to easyJet's closing price the previous day and an 81% premium to the price before Castlelake's bid period began. Castlelake, which had until 3 August to make a formal offer, had earlier agreed a £5.5bn deal in principle. Apollo has pledged to take "all necessary steps" to satisfy EU rules requiring European airlines to be majority owned by a European entity, and said existing investors could roll their stock into a "stub equity alternative". Separately, French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel has become Vodafone's largest shareholder, buying a 16.21% stake for £4.4bn from Emirati group e& at 112.5p per share.