Why easyJet Prefers Apollo Over Castlelake

easyJet is showing a clear preference for the latest bid from Apollo Global Management over that of rival Castlelake in a latest offering disclosed on July 10. And that’s not just for financial reasons. Apollo intends to keep the easyJet brand intact, which indicates that the airline will continue as a going concern. In contrast, Castlelake seems more interested in acquiring the airline’s existing and future fleet and assets and split up the company. easyJet disclosed the Apollo bid early on Friday. The US investor is offering 750 pence per share, which values the airline at £5.7 billion. This is up 84 percent on easyJet’s share price of 394 pence on May 28. In its fifth offering on July 4, Castlelake upped its offer to 690 pence, which valued easyJet at £5.5 billion. The Board will no longer recommend Castlelake’s offer to its shareholders, a U-turn from earlier this week. Reading the easyJet regulatory announcement, a different and more positive tone is evident. Except for the fifth offer from Castlelake, all its attempts were regarded as a hostile bid and, as such, declined. The agreement with Apollo Management X is met differently. For instance, read this paragraph: “Apollo has followed easyJet for many years and continues to regard it as one of the most attractive businesses in the global aviation sector and a highly differentiated franchise with significant long-term growth potential. Apollo believes in easyJet’s existing strategy of evolving and strengthening the low-cost carrier model, most notably through upgauging the fleet, enhancing the ancillary and loyalty offering, and scaling Holidays into a structurally differentiated earnings stream. Apollo further believes that easyJet management’s operational and commercial ambitions can be substantially accelerated via the access to incremental capital and longer-term business and strategic planning that a private company setting affords.” Brand That sounds like a company that believes in easyJet's future and trusts its management. This is confirmed again later on in the release: “Apollo also attaches great importance to the strength of the easyJet brand (…) and intends that it will remain in use following completion of the Proposed Transaction. Accordingly, Apollo intends to keep in place (and does not intend to make any changes to) the brand license agreement between easyJet and easyGroup Ltd. The expectation is that the brand value and associated royalties will increase as the aforementioned commercial and growth initiatives take hold.” Apollo is offering shareholders the opportunity to roll their shares into a new vehicle, “through which the Apollo Funds would hold their investment in easyJet (the “Stub Equity Alternative”). The terms of any such Stub Equity Alternative, which would have voting rights, remain subject to further discussion and agreement.” Like Castlelake, Apollo is a US-based investment firm that will need one or more partners to take over easyJet to comply with EU competition regulations. Apollo says it will take all necessary steps to satisfy the requirements of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, clearances, or other regulatory conditions. Apollo now has until 5 pm on August 7 to confirm its intention to make an offer. On Monday, easyJet said that Castlelake had until August 3. Expect a bidding war to open in the coming days and weeks, so the future of the low-cost airline is still undecided. No stranger Like Castlelake, Apollo Global Management and its funds are no strangers to the airline industry. Last September, Apollo, together with Brookfield, provided capital to Sumitomo Corporation and SMBC Aviation Capital for the acquisition of Air Lease Corporation (ALC). In November 2025, Apollo and Virgin Atlantic completed a $745 million senior secured financing of the airline’s portfolio of take-off and landing slots at London Heathrow. This funded Virgin’s balance sheet and fleet plans. In July 2023, the asset manager bought the Flying Blue loyalty program from Air France-KLM. Earlier, it provided €500 million in capital to Air France Engineering and Maintenance and acquired a pool of spare engines. That same year, Apollo established Perseus Aviation as a global aircraft leasing and financing company that owns and manages 72 aircraft across 12 popular types, including the Airbus A320ceo/neo family and A330, Boeing 737/MAX, 777 and 787, and Embraer E2-series. PK AirFinance is Apollo’s aviation lending platform. By late March, its portfolio includes 380+ loans for 280+ (mainly narrowbody) aircraft and 100+ engines. Apollo Private Equity helped Sun Country Airlines in 2022, while Apollo Funds, through various vehicles, executed aircraft sale-and-leasebacks with Air France and GOL. It is involved in aircraft leasing through subsidiaries such as Merx and Navigator. In 2023, Apollo and other investors acquired a majority stake in Modern Aviation, a fixed base operator active in general aviation, commercial, cargo and military aviation in North America. Apollo Global Management has $908 billion in assets under management. Its investment strategy covers $834 billion across multiple public and private markets. An essential part of the company is the Athene retirement services business, which manages $36 billion in capital.

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