Back in February, plans to merge Spirit and Frontier Airlines were announced, as the two companies were in talks to come together to form one of the next largest airlines in the U.S. Following that news, JetBlue entered the conversation by offering a $3.6 billion buyout, however, on Monday Spirit officially declined their deal.
According to the Washington Post, the board over at Spirit Airlines declined JetBlue’s offer and expressed interest in moving forward with Frontier Airlines instead.
Mac Gardner, the chairman of Spirit’s board, said in a statement,
“The Board determined that the JetBlue proposal involves an unacceptable level of closing risk that would be assumed by Spirit stockholders. We believe that our pending merger with Frontier will start an exciting new chapter for Spirit.”
He continued to say,
“It imposes on our stockholders a degree of risk that no responsible board would accept. Given this substantial completion risk, we believe JetBlue’s economic offer is illusory, and Spirit’s board has not found it necessary to consider it.”
Gardner also spoke on the rejection from federal authorities also being based on a proposed alliance between JetBlue and American Airlines, which was also taken into consideration.
As previously reported, earlier this year the two airlines announced a $6.6 billion merger. However, at the time, they were waiting on Federal Antitrust Regulators and Spirit shareholders to approve the merger. Although the deal has been presented as a merger, it was would be Frontier purchasing Spirit Airlines.
When discussing JetBlue’s updated bid, Robin Hayes, the airline’s chief executive said the company would, “deliver meaningful benefits for customers, superior value for shareholders of both airlines, and new opportunities for our combined crewmembers.”
He added, “We have confidence that we can complete this transaction to bring more low fares and great service to more customers.”
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
