BBC News reported on Thursday 5 November 2026 that Welsh aviation parts firm AerFin was bought in a £475m deal, ending its majority private-equity ownership. For anyone holding shares in an acquired company, a private buyout usually converts those shares into a fixed cash payment on a set completion date.
What happened in the AerFin £475m deal?
AerFin, the Welsh aviation parts and aircraft teardown specialist, was acquired in a £475m deal announced on Thursday 5 November 2026, according to BBC News. The transaction takes the company out of majority private-equity ownership, which had controlled the business before the sale.
BBC News reported the deal value at £475m and described it as an exit for the firm's existing private-equity backers. AerFin is a private company, so its shares were not trading on a public exchange like the London Stock Exchange, which changes how a payout reaches shareholders compared with a listed takeover.
Private company versus listed company buyouts
The core mechanics are the same, but the plumbing differs. In a private deal, shareholders are usually institutional backers, founders and employees holding equity or options, and proceeds flow through the deal's legal completion rather than a brokerage account.
- Listed takeover: your broker credits cash or new shares automatically once the deal closes.
- Private buyout: proceeds are paid under the share purchase agreement, often with a portion held in escrow.
- Private-equity exit: the selling fund distributes proceeds to its limited partners after fees and carried interest.
What is a corporate action, and why does an acquisition count?
A corporate action is any event initiated by a company that changes its shares or the value delivered to shareholders. An acquisition is one of the most consequential corporate actions because it can end the existence of your holding entirely, replacing it with cash, new shares, or a mix of both.
Common corporate actions a tracker needs to handle include:
- Cash acquisition: shares are cancelled and replaced with a fixed cash amount per share.
- Stock-for-stock merger: your shares convert into shares of the acquirer at a set ratio.
- Cash-and-stock deal: a combination of both, common in large public mergers.
- Stock split or reverse split: share count changes, total value does not.
- Spin-off: part of the company becomes a separate, newly listed entity.
The AerFin deal is a cash-style private-equity exit, so the holder's position ends and buyout cash proceeds land in its place. Logging that cleanly matters because the cost basis and the proceeds together define your realised gain or loss for tax.
What does a buyout actually pay shareholders?
In a cash acquisition, shareholders receive a fixed price per share, and their equity position is extinguished on the completion date. The deal document, not the last market price, sets the per-share number, and that figure is what you record as your sale proceeds.
How the payout is calculated
Take the per-share offer and multiply by your share count. For a hypothetical holder of 5,000 shares at an offer of £3.80 per share, the gross proceeds are £19,000. From there, several adjustments can apply:
- Escrow holdback: a slice, often 5% to 15%, is held back for 12 to 24 months against post-deal warranty claims.
- Deal fees: legal and advisory costs can reduce net proceeds for private holders.
- Currency conversion: a sterling payout converts to your home currency at the rate on the day cash lands.
That last point matters for anyone outside the UK. If you track in US dollars or euros, the GBP payout has to be converted, and the rate on the payment date is the one that counts.
How to log an acquisition and track the cash proceeds
Log an acquisition as a sale at the deal's per-share price on the completion date, then record the resulting cash as a new balance in your portfolio. This two-step approach preserves your original cost basis and produces a correct realised gain or loss.
Step by step in PortfolioTrackr
- Record the exit: enter a sell for the full position at the per-share offer price, dated the completion day.
- Capture the cash: add the net buyout cash proceeds as a cash holding, so your total value does not suddenly drop to zero.
- Note the escrow: use the position's free-text note to record any holdback and its expected release date.
- Check the gain: the summary card shows the realised result against your original purchase.
If you hold shares in a GBP-denominated company but track in another currency, PortfolioTrackr converts the cost at the exchange rate of the day you bought and the sale proceeds at the sale-day rate, showing the currency gain or loss as its own line. With 10 years of daily exchange rates across 100 currencies, a cross-border payout reconciles without a spreadsheet. For a wider view of why that beats manual tracking, see our comparison of a portfolio tracker versus a spreadsheet.
Why the cost basis method changes your tax bill on a buyout
Your realised gain on a buyout is the proceeds minus your cost basis, and when you bought shares in multiple lots, the cost basis method you choose can change that number materially. A single acquisition can crystallise years of gains in one tax event.
The two most common methods produce different results:
| Method | What it uses first | Effect in a rising market |
|---|---|---|
| FIFO | Oldest, usually cheapest lots | Larger taxable gain |
| LIFO | Newest, usually pricier lots | Smaller taxable gain |
| Average cost | Blended cost per share | A middle result |
Which one you can use depends on your jurisdiction, and the difference is not trivial. Our breakdown of FIFO versus LIFO for capital gains walks through the arithmetic. For a buyout specifically, the whole position usually sells at once, so the method decides how the lots stack up against the single proceeds figure.
Why a timestamped record of a buyout matters later
A dated, timestamped log of the exit price, share count and payment date is what lets you prove your realised gain if a tax authority ever asks. Acquisitions are exactly the kind of one-off event that people forget the details of two years later, when the escrow finally pays out.
Keep these for every corporate action:
- The per-share offer price and the completion date.
- Your original cost basis and purchase dates for each lot.
- Any escrow holdback amount and the date it was released.
- The exchange rate used if the payout was in a foreign currency.
PortfolioTrackr's tax report converts each trade at the rate of its own date and prints that rate on every row, which is the kind of audit trail described in our piece on why a timestamped trade log matters. When the escrow releases a year later, you log it as a second cash receipt against the same position's note.
What a holder can check right now
If you hold shares in a company that has just announced a buyout, there are concrete facts you can verify without guessing at the outcome. None of this is a decision about your money; it is reading the deal terms against your own records.
- Deal type: is it all cash, all stock, or a mix? That determines whether you end up with cash or new shares.
- Completion date: the day your position converts and the day the exchange rate, if any, is fixed.
- Your cost basis: what you paid, so you know the realised result in advance of filing.
- Escrow terms: whether part of your payout is deferred, and for how long.
For the AerFin deal, BBC News confirmed the £475m headline value and the private-equity exit on 5 November 2026, though AerFin was privately held, so public shareholders were not directly involved. The same logging steps apply to any listed takeover you do hold. If you track holdings across several brokers, our guide to keeping an accurate record across brokerage accounts covers how acquisition proceeds flow into a combined view.
The bottom line
A buyout converts your shares into a fixed payout, usually cash, on a set completion date, and logging it correctly means recording a sale at the deal price plus the resulting cash balance. The AerFin £475m deal reported by BBC News on 5 November 2026 is a private-equity exit, so the mechanics flow through legal completion rather than a brokerage.
Whether your holding is private or listed, the same discipline applies: capture the per-share price, the date, your cost basis and any currency conversion. Get those four facts into your tracker and the realised gain, and the tax that follows, calculates itself.
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Frequently asked questions
What happens to my shares when a company is acquired?
Your shares are usually converted into cash, new shares of the acquirer, or a combination, on the deal's completion date. In a cash acquisition the position ends and a fixed per-share amount lands in its place. The deal document, not the last market price, sets the number.
How do I record a buyout in my portfolio tracker?
Log the acquisition as a sale of the full position at the per-share offer price on the completion date, then add the cash proceeds as a new balance. In PortfolioTrackr this preserves your original cost basis and produces a correct realised gain or loss on the summary card.
Do I pay tax when my shares are bought out for cash?
A cash buyout is generally a taxable disposal, so you realise a gain or loss equal to the proceeds minus your cost basis. The exact treatment depends on your jurisdiction and how long you held the shares. Keeping a timestamped record of the price and date supports your filing.
What is an escrow holdback in an acquisition?
An escrow holdback is a portion of the sale proceeds, often 5% to 15%, kept back for 12 to 24 months to cover potential post-deal warranty claims. When it releases, you record it as a second cash receipt. Note the amount and expected release date so you do not lose track.
How is a foreign-currency buyout payout converted for tracking?
A payout in a foreign currency converts to your home currency at the exchange rate on the day the cash lands. PortfolioTrackr converts the cost at the purchase-day rate and the proceeds at the sale-day rate, showing the currency gain or loss as its own line, using ten years of daily rates across 100 currencies.