Spirit Airlines Rejects JetBlue Counter Offer Against Merger with Frontier

Consolidation among discount airlines has sparked a battle over Spirit Airlines as JetBlue tries to disrupt deal with Frontier.

Jonathan Welsh

Monday, May 02, 2022 at 05:53 PM ET

Verified

On Feb. 7, Spirit entered into a merger agreement with Frontier, under which Spirit and Frontier would combine in a deal for stock and cash. [File photo: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Spirit Airlines has formally rejected JetBlue Airways' counter offer for acquisition, citing an "unacceptable level of closing risk" due to potential antitrust issues.
Spirit's board reaffirmed its belief that the pending merger with Frontier Airlines represents the best opportunity to maximize shareholder value.
Spirit Airlines will continue to move forward with its planned merger with Frontier Airlines, which is anticipated to close in the second half of 2022.

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Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) has rejected a counter offer that JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) made last month to its planned merger with Frontier Airlines (NASDAQ: ULCC) because it believes “the proposed transaction is not reasonably capable of being consummated.”

Spirit said its board “continues to believe that the pending transaction with Frontier represents the best opportunity to maximize value and recommends that Spirit shareholders adopt the merger agreement with Frontier.”