Budget airline easyJet is expected to return to the FTSE 100 in this week’s index reshuffle after its shares were boosted by a recommended £5.7 billion takeover offer from the American private equity firm Apollo Capital Management.
As things stand, the airline would be joined in the top flight by Ithaca Energy, the North Sea oil and gas producer, while the gambling group Entain and the housebuilder Persimmon face relegation to the FTSE 250. Aston Martin Lagonda, the lossmaking carmaker, is set to fall out of the FTSE 250 altogether and drop into the FTSE SmallCap index.
The changes are not yet official. Index provider FTSE Russell’s indicative review is based on market data from 21 August, and the review proper will be conducted using prices at the close of trading on 1 September. The confirmed changes will be announced after the market closes on 2 September.
Under FTSE Russell’s ground rules for its UK index series, most recently updated in July, a company is removed from the FTSE 100 at the quarterly review if it has fallen to 111th place or below when companies are ranked by full market capitalisation.
Takeover bid powers easyJet’s return
For easyJet, promotion would mark a return to an index it has been in and out of over the years, and it comes despite issues with price-sensitive customers over the summer and heavy losses last winter.
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