EasyJet agrees to £5.7bn takeover by US firm

EasyJet has reached an agreement to be acquired by US firm Apollo in a £5.7bn deal. The takeover was finalized after rival bidder Castlelake withdrew from the bidding process. Apollo aims to help the airline expand without cutting jobs in the first year following the takeover. EasyJet, Europe's largest no-frills airline, operates 1,200 routes across 35 countries and employs over 19,000 people.

Founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 1995, the airline was initially launched to provide affordable air travel from the UK to Europe. The ownership of EasyJet, currently held by Sir Stelios and his family, remains strong as they intend to remain major shareholders in the business. The deal requires approval from regulators, including ensuring a majority of owners are based in the EU, which Apollo anticipates can be achieved by having the Haji-Ioannou family and other EU-based shareholders own around half of the company.

If EasyJet delists from the stock exchange to become private, some jobs related to maintaining its public operations could be affected, though Apollo estimates this will be a limited number of roles. EasyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis expressed enthusiasm about Apollo's support and expertise, emphasizing the potential for accelerated growth.

However, the loss of EasyJet as a publicly-traded company could impact London's financial markets, as AJ Bell's financial analyst Danni Hewson noted that well-known names like EasyJet are difficult to replace in the retail investment landscape.