easyJet has soared back into the FTSE 100 – but it is expected to only be there temporarily.
The airline returned to the top tier of London Stock Exchange companies after a six-month absence as its share price rebounded.
However easyJet is set to be taken private in early 2027 after agreeing a £5.7 billion deal with Apollo following a bidding war also featuring fellow private equity firm Castlelake.
The London Stock Exchange’s quarterly review also sees North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy join the FTSE 100. The companies replace gambling group Entain and housebuilder Persimmon, which drop into the FTSE 250.
Promoted to the FTSE 250 are Pinewood Technologies Group and Volex, replacing Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings and GB Group.
Like easyJet, Pinewood is also set to leave the public markets after agreeing a £545 million sale to Ridgeview Partners. An earlier £575m deal with another PE house, Apax Partners, had fallen through.
A Birmingham-headquartered tech provider to car dealerships, it was formed out of the breakup of dealer group Pendragon. It is led by Florida-based Bill Berman.
Volex, based in Basingstoke, is an historic manufacturer of integrated high-performance power and connectivity solutions for mission-critical applications.
Shares in GB Group plc are down 21% over six months thanks to a double whammy of writing down the value of its US business segment by around £90 million then a further bleak trading update which saw its chief revenue officer in the region leave the business.
The Cheshire-based identity solutions business recorded a small increase in revenue for the year ended 31st March 2026 but the writedown saw it swing to a huge loss on a statutory basis.
All changes to the FTSE indexes will be implemented at the close of business on Friday 18th September 2026 and take effect from the start of trading on Monday 21st September.