Apollo offers 6.6 billion for EasyJet and surpasses Castlelake's proposal
The shares of the British company were rising more than 14% on the London Stock Exchange after 10.25 hours
BarcelonaThe board of directors of EasyJet has announced an initial agreement with Apollo Global for a new takeover bid of £7.15 per share, valued at a total of £5.7 billion – equivalent to €6.688 billion. Thus, the new proposal has surpassed the £6.90 per share offer from Castlelake, which had already been accepted. The board has highlighted that the financial conditions put on the table by Apollo are at a level that leads them "to recommend it to EasyJet shareholders". The shares of the British company were up more than 14% on the London Stock Exchange past 10:25 AM, to £6.71.
Apollo's proposal is expected to be financed entirely through a combination of committed equity and debt financing. "EasyJet management's operational and commercial ambitions can be substantially accelerated thanks to access to additional capital and longer-term business and strategic planning that the framework of a private company allows," Apollo highlighted.
Apollo's emergence as a competitor comes after multiple rounds of negotiations over the past month between EasyJet and Castlelake, which had been continuously raising its offer to keep talks going. Nevertheless, Castlelake continues to hold a potential advantage, as it was granted access to EasyJet's books following its latest and improved offer, valued at £5.5 billion (€6.453 billion).
Like Castlelake, Apollo, being an American company, cannot gain full control of EasyJet, as it operates under British and European regulations, which require that majority ownership and control be held by citizens of the region, meaning the company will need a partner. Currently, the company's majority shareholder is the family of the founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, with a 15.3% stake.