Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has thrown the weight of his votes behind Apollo's £5.7 billion cash offer for easyJet (LSE:EZJ), the budget airline he founded.
The Haji-Ioannou family concert party, easyJet's largest shareholder group, has given irrevocable undertakings to an Apollo affiliate to support the deal.
It means that a block of shares representing 15.31% of the airline moves behind what has become an uncontested recommended takeover offer.
A separate stock market statement in the past hour confirmed that rival bidder Castlelake had withdrawn from the process.
Apollo is now cleared to proceed with a transaction.
"Having carefully reviewed the proposal by Apollo, my family members and I have decided to support the recommended acquisition announced by the easyJet board," Sir Stelios said.
"I am pleased with Apollo's strategic intentions for the easyJet business, which aim to create more growth."
He added: "Apollo, as one of the most well-resourced and experienced institutional investors in the world, has decided to back and grow easyJet", Haji-Ioannou said, adding that his family intends "to remain invested as long-term major shareholders of easyJet for the next chapter in the company's journey."
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet's founder and largest shareholder via a 15.31% concert party stake, has committed irrevocable support for Apollo's all-cash takeover at £7.15 per share, electing to take unlisted shares rather than cash and signalling intent to remain a long-term investor post-deal. This removes the final material uncertainty from Apollo's bid—the founder's backing closes off any residual takeover contest and substantially raises the probability of deal completion at the proposed price.
Founder backing materially de-risks Apollo's offer and eliminates the takeover contest that had hung over the stock since July. For shareholders, this anchors the exit price at £7.15 per share in cash; for Apollo, it removes the largest shareholder veto risk and signals founder confidence in the acquirer's stewardship of the airline.
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Content is for informational purposes only, not financial advice.
