JetBlue Agrees To Buy Spirit in $3.8 Billion Deal

Months after launching an unsolicited bid for Spirit Airlines, JetBlue Airways has wooed the discount carrier away from previous suitor Frontier Airlines.

Jonathan Welsh

Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 12:52 PM ET

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Under the agreement, JetBlue will pay $33.50 in cash for each Spirit share, including an advance payment of $2.50 per share payable as soon as Spirit shareholders approve the deal. [Courtesy: JetBlue]

Key Takeaways:

JetBlue has agreed to acquire Spirit Airlines for $3.8 billion in an all-cash deal, making the combined entity the fifth-largest U.S. airline.
This acquisition follows Spirit's decision to abandon its previously planned merger with Frontier Airlines, after a prolonged bidding war between JetBlue and Frontier.
The merged airline aims to establish a strong low-fare, customer-centric challenger to the dominant "big four" U.S. carriers.
The deal faces significant regulatory hurdles, with JetBlue committing to substantial fees if antitrust approval is not secured.

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JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) agreed to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) in a $3.8 billion deal. The resulting airline would become the fifth-largest U.S. air carrier and an especially powerful player in discount travel.

The announcement of the transaction comes a day after Spirit and longtime suitor Frontier Airlines (NASDAQ: ULCC) agreed to abandon a merger proposal they had announced in February just before Spirit was to announce the result of a shareholder vote on the merger. Frontier and JetBlue had waged a bidding war over Spirit since April.