It follows months of uncertainty surrounding one of Europe's biggest low-cost airlines as the industry struggles against surging costs from the Iran war.
The airline is the latest in a string of London-listed companies that have been taken private by private equity firms and largely US companies in recent years as the FTSE 100 share index has traded at a discount to its US counterpart.
Both easyJet and Apollo Global announced the deal on Thursday, after rival to the takeover, Castlelake, dropped out of the running.
"Having carefully reviewed the proposal by Apollo, my family members and I have decided to support the recommended acquisition announced by the easyJet board," easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou said in a separate statement after speculation of his approval.
EasyJet's board, advised by Evercore, unanimously recommended the cash offer, adding that it considered the terms fair and reasonable.
"While we remain confident in the strength of our business and the opportunities ahead, we believe this offer appropriately recognises the quality of the business we have built and delivers immediate, certain and attractive value for shareholders," easyJet non-executive chair, Stephen Hester, said.
Investment firm, Apollo, which manages about $1.05trn in assets and has previously invested in Sun Country Airlines, Aeromexico and Atlas Air, said it plans to accelerate easyJet's commercial ambitions - including broadening its fast-growing holidays business - under private ownership.
Earlier on Thursday, Castlelake withdrew from the takeover battle, but did not state a reason.
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The firm had tabled five bids for easyJet before Apollo entered the race in July, topping Castlelake's £5.5bn proposal and securing the backing of the airline's board.
Questions have been raised by investors and regulators about how Apollo will comply with European Union rules on airline ownership, given easyJet's bases across the bloc.
EasyJet's flying rights within the bloc depend on the airline staying majority-owned and controlled by EU interests.
Following the deal, Apollo expects Mr Haji-Ioannou's family and other shareholders that remain invested to hold between 45.1% and 49.9% of the ordinary capital of the purchasing vehicle.
An EU management trust will hold up to 5%, and Apollo's funds will hold the rest - up to a maximum of 49.9%.
EasyJet's main base is in Britain and the Civil Aviation Authority said it has contacted the parties involved in the deal.
EasyJet shares, which have rallied more than 65% since the initial takeover interest was disclosed, were still trading below Apollo's offer price at 670p by 4.08pm on the day of the announcement.
The Celebrity Big Brother 2016 winner had been placed on the sex offenders register, handed a five-year restraining order and given a 21-month jail sentence in 2023 for sharing a private sex tape of his ex-girlfriend, former The Only Way Is Essex star Georgia Harrison, on his OnlyFans website.
The tape was posted without Ms Harrison's knowledge or consent.
The 36-year-old was then charged with harassment for posting on social media between March and July last year about the case, in which sentenced in June.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he made degrading comments about Ms Harrison and encouraged others to comment about her in repeated posts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and YouTube, despite a restraining order banning him from doing so.
Ms Harrison, 31, gave police screenshots and screen recordings which showed Bear made a series of accusations and degrading comments about her.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison and handed a new restraining order banning him from contacting Ms Harrison indefinitely.
Speaking after his sentence was handed down, Ms Harrison, who was appointed MBE in 2025, praised the police for their handling of the case, saying: "Essex Police took me seriously when so many women in my position are overlooked.
"They treated this as the serious crime it is - not a celebrity story. It is a real offence against a real person.
"They built the case properly, they stayed with it, and when the order was breached, they acted instead of shrugging. From the messages I get every day, I know how rare that still is.
"If every force treated this the way Essex Police did, thousands of women would feel safer today."
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Ms Harrison, who has previously waived her anonymity in this case, has starred in reality TV shows including The Only Way Is Essex and Love Island.
After becoming a victim of revenge porn, Ms Harrison has actively campaigned against violence against women and girls.
Bear's behaviour shouldn't be 'normalised or accepted'
Detective Constable Swarv Stafin, who led the investigation into the breach of the restraining order, said: "Stephen Bear's behaviour is not okay and it should not be normalised or accepted.
"The impacts of being harassed are very real. It causes a great deal of stress and anxiety - it is something no-one should have to experience."
Mr Stafin also paid tribute to Ms Harrison's "courage and dignity," adding, "I would urge anyone that is experiencing any sort of harassing behaviour to the police, no matter how small or big it is, it will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly."
Bear was taken into immediate custody and must serve at least half before release.
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in June she was "minded" to intervene in Paramount Skydance's $110bn (£81.4bn) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) over public interest concerns.
But a statement from her department on Thursday said she would not due to the legally binding commitments provided to her by Paramount.
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The media and entertainment conglomerate said it would invest £80m in the UK and ensure the news brands it acquired would remain editorially separate, as would the children's TV channels.
It has promised that Channel 5 will continue to operate as a public service broadcaster and be separate to the US news brands it owns: CNN and CBS.
It added that CNN International will continue to be available in the UK.
A letter from the company to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said it had "no intention to change Channel 5's commissioning strategy, scheduling approach, news provision, UK origination levels, children's content".
Paramount has agreed to make the assurances legally binding.
The deal is now effectively green lit by the UK as competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, decided there are no aspects necessitating its intervention.
Ms Nandy said, however, she will be meeting with Paramount in the coming weeks seeking assurances about the impact of the deal on wider creative industries.
Why does it matter?
Ms Nandy had expressed concern over media plurality and the shrinking number of news media owners.
Fears for streaming service concentration had also been voiced.
A merger of WBD and Paramount Skydance is one of the biggest media deals in history, with significant impacts on TV, filmmaking, and the possible future of the cinema.
Other entities that would be owned by Paramount Skydance and WBD in the event of a deal include TNT Sports, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, as well as the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services.
TV channels will remain distinct from the streaming services, the UK government was assured.
The joining of two of Hollywood's five legacy studios could prompt cinema operators' concerns over possible reductions in jobs and the number of films released in theatres.
The company is also headed by David Ellison, the son of Trump-ally Larry Ellison, who put up tens of billions of dollars to satisfy funding guarantees for the WBD bid.
While the EU has approved the takeover, regulatory approval is still required in the US, where state attorneys general led by California have sought to block the deal on antitrust grounds.
Alex Hughes was found collapsed in the bedroom of his home in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in June last year by his sons, Cheshire Coroner's Court heard.
Paramedics were called and tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Hughes, 38, was head of player recruitment at League Two side, Grimsby Town, having previously worked at clubs including Manchester City, Fulham, Blackburn and 1860 Munich.
He died from "sudden adult death syndrome", also known as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), a post-mortem found.
SADS is diagnosed when the cause of death cannot be explained in a post-mortem examination because the structure of the heart appears normal.
It affects around 500 people in the UK every year and the British Heart Foundation said SADS "usually happens when a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm goes untreated and leads to a cardiac arrest".
The foundation added that inherited heart conditions are "often the cause of SADS if the person who has it doesn't know they do".
These conditions can include long QT syndrome (LQTS) and progressive cardiac conduction defect (PCCD), which both involve problems with electrical signals getting to the heart, as well as heart rhythm disorders Brugada syndrome and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT).
Former striker Mark Hughes said he and his family were "heartbroken" following the sudden death of his son.
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In a statement released through the League Managers Association, the former Manchester City, Stoke and Blackburn boss said: "Jill and I are totally heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected loss of our beloved son Alex.
"Alex was a wonderful son, brother to Curtis and Xenna, devoted husband and father to Jessica and their two beautiful children Sebastian and Leonardo.
"Alex was player recruitment lead at Grimsby Town FC, and had many good friends and colleagues. He will be so deeply missed by us all."
Mr Hughes had a brief playing career at Stockport and Wrexham, before joining Blackburn in 2007 as a performance analyst during his father's time as manager.
He then followed his father to Manchester City in 2008 and worked with him again at Fulham before continuing his career abroad.
After stints at Morecambe and National League side, AFC Fylde in Lancashire, he joined Grimsby in 2025.
Women e-scooter riders are also at a higher risk than men of being severely injured.
Data showed that - compared with motorcyclists - e-scooter users were 3.5 times likelier to suffer a traumatic brain injury, 1.5 times likelier to injure their internal organs, and 3.2 times likelier to injure their arteries or veins.
The risk was 1.7, 1.4 and 1.7 times higher respectively when compared with cyclists.
A team of experts led by surgeon David Bodansky made the findings after analysing data from 15,247 patients in the National Major Trauma Registry, including 580 e-scooter riders, more than 7,000 motorcyclists and 7,740 cyclists.
The study also found that more than one in 10 e-scooter riders were children, who were more likely to be injured.
Helmet use was documented in just 5.9% of e-scooter riders compared with around 75% of motorcyclists and 45% of cyclists.
However, fracture risk for e-scooter riders was 20% lower than for motorcyclists and 10% lower than for cyclists.
E-scooters are available to rent as part of government trial schemes in cities such as Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham, and a number of London boroughs.
But it is presently illegal to use privately-owned e-scooters in public.
Nonetheless, researchers say they "are increasingly used" across the UK - but there is limited evidence about "injury patterns, severity and exposure-adjusted risk".
Collisions and near misses
The team separately analysed more than 23,000 self-reported e-scooter collisions and near misses.
This showed that men had a 36% lower risk of crashing than women - with women 2.1 times more likely to be severely injured.
Looking at both sets of data "revealed previously under-explored trends" and socioeconomic factors, researchers said, such as incidents being more common in deprived regions.
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The findings come as the latest Department for Transport figures showed there were 1,312 collisions involving e-scooters in 2024.
Researchers said: "Embedding rigorous public health evidence into forthcoming UK legislation will be critical to ensure that the benefits of micromobility are realised while minimising avoidable harm."
Fire concerns
Concerns over the fire safety of some e-scooters has also been raised, with figures suggesting that e-bike and e-scooter fires reached a record high last year.
There were 147 e-scooter fires reported during 2025 - up 20% from the 123 seen in 2024.
These incidents are often caused by failing batteries, conversion kits, and chargers.
Fires involving lithium batteries used for e-bikes and e-scooters can spread rapidly and produce a toxic vapour.
Electrical Safety First has warned this issue is "swiftly becoming a runaway train that needs to be stopped" - with incidents surging over the past five years.
The new study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.