美国私募股权公司 Apollo 向英国廉价航空公司 easyJet 提出每股 7.15 英镑、总额达 57 亿英镑的全现金收购要约 [1]。easyJet 董事会已不再支持此前另一家私募机构 Castlelake 提出的 55 亿英镑报价，转而倾向于推荐 Apollo 的方案 [1]。
若交易最终达成，Apollo 计划保留 easyJet 现有的管理层团队 [1]。此外，该方案需满足欧盟关于欧洲航空公司必须由区域内投资者多数持股的规定 [1]。easyJet 创始人 Stelios Haji-Ioannou 持有公司超过 15% 的股份，一旦出售将获得约 8.55 亿英镑的收益 [1]。此前 easyJet 曾原则上接受 Castlelake 的报价，但分析师认为该价格低估了公司价值 [1]。受此消息影响，easyJet 股价在周五早盘上涨 14% [1]。Apollo 需在 8 月 7 日前提出正式要约 [1]。
US private equity firm Apollo has entered a bidding war to acquire British low-cost carrier easyJet by submitting an all-cash offer of £5.7 billion, or 715 pence per share [1]. The board of directors at easyJet now favors this proposal over the previous bid from another US investment group, Castlelake, which was valued at £5.5 billion but is no longer recommended to shareholders by the company's leadership [1]. Analysts suggest that the earlier rejection of the lower offer stemmed from concerns it undervalued the airline [1].
If the transaction proceeds as planned, Apollo intends to retain easyJet's existing management team and ensure compliance with European Union regulations requiring a majority shareholding in airlines by investors within Europe [1]. The announcement has already impacted market sentiment, causing easyJet shares to rise 14% on Friday morning trading [1]. Founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou holds more than 15 percent of the company's equity and stands to realize approximately £855 million in proceeds should a sale occur [1]. Apollo must submit its formal offer by August 7 [1].