EasyJet £5B Takeover Sparks European Aviation M&A Wave

EasyJet ($EJTTF) spent weeks playing hard to get, but Castle Lake's fifth takeover bid worth over £5 billion finally got a yes — and the market threw a party. Shares soared roughly 9.5% on the news, and the celebration didn't stop there: British Airways parent IAG, Ryanair ($RYAAY), and TUI all caught bids on pure read-across optimism. When one budget airline gets valued properly, the whole sector starts looking cheap.

Bloomberg podcast coverage this week lit up with M&A speculation across European aviation, framing the EasyJet deal as a potential catalyst for broader consolidation. Meanwhile, Thales dropped €3.9 billion on underwater drone maker Exail Technologies, signaling that European defense and dual-use aerospace is also on a shopping spree — likely turbocharged by NATO's push for members to hit ~€17 billion in increased military spending from Italy alone.

Two deals, one week, one continent — and suddenly European aerospace looks like the most interesting M&A hunting ground since pre-COVID. Buckle up.