Apollo taps Paul Weiss as £5.7bn easyJet takeover battle heats up

Private equity giant Apollo has emerged with a higher offer for easyJet, prompting the airline to withdraw its support for a rival proposal from US investment firm Castlelake just days after reaching agreement on its key terms.

Clifford Chance is advising London-listed easyJet on the potential takeover, while Paul Weiss is acting for New York-based Apollo in a major European mandate for the US firm from one of its biggest clients.

In an announcement today (10 July), easyJet said Apollo had proposed an all-cash offer of £7.15 per share, representing a value of roughly £5.7 billion.

The board said it had unanimously concluded the financial terms were at a level it would be minded to recommend to shareholders, subject to agreement on the remaining terms and conditions.

Rival bid

The move represents a sharp turn in the takeover process after easyJet said on 5 July that it had reached agreement in principle with Castlelake, advised by Slaughter and May and Milbank, on the key financial terms of a possible recommended cash offer of £6.90 per share.

The potential takeover comes at a tough time for the airline, which has grappled with higher fuel costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East, softer booking trends and operational challenges, including flight cancellations, fleet delivery delays and staffing shortages.

According to the Financial Times, Apollo has told the airline it supports its existing strategy, including continued investment in its fleet and holidays business, one of the fastest-growing segments of the business.

Under the UK Takeover Code, Apollo has until 7 August to announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.

Later on Friday, Castlelake said it was “considering its options” in respect of its possible offer and would provide an update "as and when appropriate".

Heavyweight line up

Clifford Chance is advising easyJet with a corporate team led by London partners Melissa Fogarty, Katherine Moir and James Bole.

Paul Weiss is acting for Apollo. The team is being led by London corporate partners Dan Schuster-Woldan and Matthew Hearn according to Law.com.

The pair joined from Linklaters in 2024 and now lead some of the firm's biggest European public M&A mandates, with Schuster-Woldan serving as head of European public M&A.

Both were part of the team advising Qualcomm on its $2.4 billion acquisition of UK-based chip designer Alphawave last year.

Slaughter and May has been advising Castlelake with a team led by London M&A partners Paul Dickson and Hemita Sumanasuriya.

Milbank is also advising Castlelake. The team is led by partners Nick Swinburne in London and Alexandra Johnson in New York, together with corporate partner Andrew Nuthall in London and securities partner Brett Nadritch in New York.