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FrontRow · Aug 9, 2026

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More European airlines could be the crosshairs of private equity buyers following Apollo Global Management's swoop for EasyJet — with rival U.K. budget carrier Jet2 emerging as a potential takeover target. Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said airlines had been hit hard in the early stages of the Iran war. But recent share price action suggests investors now anticipate further deals ahead. Macdonald flagged Jet2 as a potential target for private equity interest, highlighting its "similar dynamics" to EasyJet as a low-cost carrier. "Jet2, for example, was trading on a price-to-equity ratio of 6-7 times. It's now gone up about 60% since that low," Macdonald told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe". "We might see private equity start to look at that."

More European airlines could be the crosshairs of private equity buyers following Apollo Global Management's swoop for EasyJet — with rival U.K. budget carrier Jet2 emerging as a potential takeover target. Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said airlines had been hit hard in the early stages of the Iran war. But recent share price action suggests investors now anticipate further deals ahead. Macdonald flagged Jet2 as a potential target for private equity interest, highlighting its "similar dynamics" to EasyJet as a low-cost carrier. "Jet2, for example, was trading on a price-to-equity ratio of 6-7 times. It's now gone up about 60% since that low," Macdonald told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe". "We might see private equity start to look at that."

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