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Figures as filed with the SEC. Ranges, scores and boats are statistical descriptions of past filings, not ratings or recommendations. Reporting, not advice.
In plain words
Apollo pays **£5.7B** for EasyJet, betting leisure travel pricing power offsets regulatory capex anddelisting Europe's last pure-play low-cost equity.
£5.7 billion
with completion targeted for the end of Q1 2027
27 years
on the London Stock Exchange
€3.5 billion
Spirit Airlines buyout collapsed in 2019
31% premium
to the three-month volume-weighted average price and
Apollo Global Management confirmed Wednesday it will take EasyJet private in an all-cash transaction valued at £5.7 billion, with completion targeted for the end of Q1 2027. The UK's second-largest airline by passenger volume exits public markets after 27 years on the London Stock Exchange, marking the largest private equity acquisition of a European carrier since TPG's €3.5 billion Spirit Airlines buyout collapsed in 2019.
The deal values EasyJet at £6.20 per share, a 31% premium to the three-month volume-weighted average price and 14% above Tuesday's close. Apollo is funding the transaction through its $73 billion Hybrid Value Fund III and related vehicles, with debt financing from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The airline's £1.1 billion net debt transfers to Apollo's balance sheet. EasyJet operated 308 aircraft across 153 destinations as of July, carrying 96.1 million passengers in the trailing twelve months—8% above 2019 levels despite European capacity remaining 4% below pre-pandemic norms.
The transaction hands Apollo control of Europe's third-busiest short-haul network at a moment when leisure travel is diverging sharply from business. EasyJet's load factor hit 91.2% in July, driven by southern European beach routes, while its exposure to business travel remains under 12% of revenue—half Ryanair's ratio. Apollo's thesis centers on two structural shifts: the permanent reduction in corporate travel budgets post-COVID, which benefits pure leisure carriers, and the €2.8 billion in sale-leaseback capital EasyJet can unlock from its 42% owned fleet. The airline's Luton and Gatwick slot portfolios alone carry an estimated replacement value above £900 million at current market rates. Apollo inherits an operation that turned £455 million in operating profit last fiscal year on £8.2 billion revenue, but also faces £780 million in environmental compliance capex through 2030 under EU regulations. The firm's aviation book already includes $4.1 billion in aircraft ABS and leasing exposure through its credit platforms.
Allocators should track three catalysts through Q2 2027. First, whether Apollo sells EasyJet Holidays—the £1.9 billion revenue package tour unit—separately to recoup 30-35% of the purchase price, a playbook it ran with Venetian Resorts' non-gaming assets. Second, UK Competition and Markets Authority clearance, expected by mid-January but complicated by EasyJet's 28% share of UK-EU capacity. Third, labor negotiations with the British Airline Pilots' Association, whose contract expires March 2027 and covers 4,200 pilots whose pension obligations Apollo must honor or restructure. The timing puts those talks directly into the integration window.
This is the fourth top-ten European airline to leave public markets since 2020. Ryanair, Lufthansa, and Air France-KLM remain exchange-listed, but the latter two carry state ownership above 14%, leaving Ryanair as the sole purely private, publicly traded legacy carrier of scale. Apollo's entry shifts 31 million annual UK passengers from quarterly earnings calls to closed-door portfolio reviews.
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For the principal
If aviation exposure exceeds 8% of alternatives allocation, this concentrates your leisure travel thesis inside Apollo's performance window through 2030.
For the operator
Watch for secondary sale of EasyJet Holidays by Q2 2027—it's the debt paydown lever and signals whether Apollo runs this for yield or flip.
For the house
Underweight European airline credit through integration; overweight Ryanair equity as the remaining public comp with 18% uncontested route advantage post-deal.
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