In an article for Avion Revue magazine (special issue Industria Aeronáutica 2026, May 2026), Juan Romero Turel, Partner at Livingstone, analyses the shift in the aerospace M&A cycle in Spain. In 2025, the Spanish M&A market saw fewer deals than the previous year, yet aerospace was one of the sectors whose metrics improved.
Aerospace M&A returns to a buyer’s cycle
Industry figures explain part of the interest: Airbus ended 2025 with a record backlog of 8,754 aircraft, and Boeing posted its best year for deliveries since 2018. Rising defence spending and a shortage of qualified industrial capacity add to the picture.
However, as Juan Romero warns, the return of buyer appetite does not mean the market pays a premium blindly: “The premium is not paid for carrying an aerospace or defence label — although that helps — but for being hard to replicate.”
What the article covers
- The three factors behind investors’ return to the aerospace and defence sector.
- Which types of company, from MRO and aftermarket to Tier-2 and Tier-3 suppliers, are achieving premium valuations, and why.
- What buyers require in defence and dual-use technologies.
- The element that carries more weight than ever in company valuations in 2026.
- Key considerations for owners and shareholders thinking about selling an aerospace business, and why “the premium is not negotiated: it is built.”
Article published in Avion Revue, special issue Industria Aeronáutica 2026, May 2026.