EasyJet’s Next Suitor: If Not MSC, Then Who?
Photo Credit: An easyJet Airbus A320neo. Airbus / Airbus
Skift Take
Renewed takeover chatter around easyJet comes during a slow-motion consolidation of Europe’s airline market.
A newspaper report in Italy has rekindled an old question: Is easyJet ripe for a takeover? On Tuesday, Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that MSC, the Geneva-based global logistics conglomerate, was studying its options.
The newspaper cites multiple sources describing preliminary assessments of a potential equity stake or even a full takeover. MSC denied the report, but the story fits neatly into a pattern of shipping and logistics giants with pandemic-era cash investing in aviation.
Rival CMA CGM is the largest private shareholder in Air France-KLM, while logistics player Kuehne+Nagel is now Lufthansa’s largest external investor. MSC itself was previously involved in a failed attempt to acquire Italy’s flag carrier, suggesting a long-standing ambition to add a passenger airline to its vast portfolio.
Why EasyJet Still Looks TemptingThe reasons are as numerous as they are simple. EasyJet has what nearly every potential buyer wants. T
