EasyJet’s board is currently putting on a masterclass in playing hard to get. The British budget airline just unanimously swiped left on a massive £4.9 billion takeover bid from Castlelake, a US-based investment firm that’s been trying to buy them out all month. The suits at easyJet claimed the 650p-a-share offer "substantially" undervalued their company, while crying about "significant questions of deliverability." But don't let the public rejection fool you—the board is absolutely thirsty for that sweet, sweet private equity cash.

In a hilarious corporate plot twist on Thursday, easyJet basically admitted they’re ready to talk if the price is right. They announced they are opening up their financial books to Castlelake to give them some "limited commercial information." Translation: "Show us the real money, and we might actually let you buy us." The board is hoping this little tease will force Castlelake to come back with a much bigger, juicier bag that "better reflects the value of easyJet."

Castlelake, which is based in Minneapolis and sits on a cool $38 billion in assets, is clearly obsessed. They’ve been aggressively raising their bids like a desperate bidder on eBay. They started back on June 1 with a lowball offer of 403p a share. When that failed, they bumped it up to 625p, which easyJet insulted by calling it "highly opportunistic." Now they are at 650p, and they’ve even brought in Brookfield Asset Management from New York to back them up. Talk about maximum effort.

But the real comedy here is how the consortium is planning to bypass the absolute nightmare of European Union bureaucracy. Under EU law, any airline operating in the bloc has to be majority-owned and controlled by EU nationals. Since Castlelake is American, the Eurocrats would normally lose their minds and strip easyJet of its operating license.

To deal with this regulatory cope, Castlelake has designed an incredibly elaborate loop-the-loop. They set up a bidding vehicle where Castlelake and Brookfield only own 49%. The other 51% is owned by two Irish aviation absolute units: Peter Bellew and Mark Breen. Since they have EU passports, the EU regulators technically can't say a word. It's a glorious 51-49 split designed specifically to keep the bureaucrats quiet while the big boys move the capital around.

The Irish frontmen aren't exactly lightweight rookies either. Peter Bellew is a former easyJet, Ryanair, and Riyadh Air COO who also ran Malaysia Airlines. He's currently running Dooks Capital out of Saudi Arabia, focusing on AI in aviation. Mark Breen is the CEO of Dublin's Oneiros Aerospace and used to be the COO of Oman Air. They know exactly how to run this game.