Private equity is circling budget airlines after Apollo's EasyJet deal — and this carrier could be next

In this article EZJ-GBJET2-GB Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTMore 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. Macdonald flagged Jet2 as a potential target for private equity interest, highlighting its "similar dynamics" to EasyJet as a low-cost carrier. It's now gone up about 60% since that low," Macdonald told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Friday. "We might see private equity start to look at that." Macdonald noted that U.K. equity valuations have not kept pace with global peers, making the London market "fertile hunting ground" for investors, including private equity buyers.