Spirit again delays the vote on the Frontier deal to continue negotiating the agreement with the low-cost airline and JetBlue
A Frontier Airlines plane nears a Spirit Airlines plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | beautiful pictures
Spirit Airlines procrastinating again shareholder vote booked for Friday on its deal to merge with Frontier Airlinesa win for competitive suitors JetBlue Airwaysthat want to buy Spirit outright.
This is the third time Spirit has postponed the vote, which was originally scheduled for June 10. It was later pushed to June 28, but Spirit has since delay it until July 8 last week, the day before the vote.
Spirit said on Thursday it will hold a vote on July 15 so it can continue to negotiate a deal with both airlines.
The delay bodes well for JetBlue Airways, which made a $3.6 billion cash offer to buy Spirit in April. Two months earlier, Frontier and Spirit announced a $2.9 billion cash and stock deal to combine into a massive discount.
“We are encouraged by our discussions with Spirit and hope they now realize that Spirit shareholders have demonstrated their clear and overwhelming preference for a deal with JetBlue. “, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement after the most recent delay.
Spirit’s board repeatedly rejected JetBlue offers, including a sweet proposal, argued that it did not think regulators would sign the deal. JetBlue said both deals would face regulatory scrutiny, and Hayes said Spirit’s board did not fully consider JetBlue’s offers.
It’s not clear if Spirit will get the shareholder support needed to get the Frontier deal through before its final scheduled meeting, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Border, also sweet Its offer for Spirit, which nearly doubled its cash share to $4.13 a share, did not immediately comment on the latest voting delay.
Spirit shares were up 2% in subsequent trading, while Frontier shares were down less than 1%. JetBlue is little changed.
