On Monday, February 7, 2022, at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, USA, a Spirit Airlines taxi.
Michael Chagla | Bloomberg | Getty Images
On Thursday, the Spirit Airlines board urged its shareholders to reject a hostile attempt to take over JetBlue Airways, citing regulatory hurdles and accusing the airline of trying to thwart a planned merger with another Frontier Airlines carrier.
“Spirit believes that JetBlue’s proposals and offer are a cynical attempt to thwart the merger of Spirit with Frontier, which JetBlue sees as a competitive threat,” the Spirit said in a statement.
JetBlue launched its hostile takeover bid on Monday after Spirit rejected its unexpected bid for $ 33 a share for cash earlier this month. The tender offer from the New York company JetBlue was for $ 30 per share. JetBlue also urged Spirit shareholders to abandon the combination with Frontier at the Spirit shareholders meeting on June 10.
JetBlue said Thursday that “it’s no surprise that Spirit shareholders are getting more and more out of Spirit Board,” accusing it of a conflict of interest. JetBlue also said the Spirit board “continues to ignore the interests of its shareholders, distorting the facts to distract from their flawed process and defend its flawed deal with Frontier.”
The Spirit Board considered the proposal and said in a statement Thursday that it determined it was “NOT in the interests of Spirit and its shareholders.”
A statement from Spirit in talks with JetBlue said the airline said it had “100% confidence” that the Justice Department would seek to block the acquisition of JetBlue Spirit.
“This deal is illusory,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie said Thursday in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” regarding JetBlue’s bid to acquire Spirit. “In our view, this will not happen, and so our council has rejected it, and we find it offensive to say otherwise.”
JetBlue said Thursday in a statement that both deals “have a similar risk profile”.
Frontier and Spirit in February announced a cash and $ 2.9 billion deal to merge it into a discount airline giant.
JetBlue says its $ 3.6 billion cash offer will “turbocharge” its growth. All three airlines fly Airbus narrow-body aircraft, a few dozen more are booked. Any combination of airlines will create the fifth largest U.S. carrier.
The Spirit Board said it did not think regulators would approve the relationship with JetBlue, citing its partnership with American Airlines in the northeastern United States. The Department of Justice sued JetBlue and American over the deal last year with a trial date set for September.
At the start of trading on Thursday, Spirit shares fell more than 1%, while shares of JetBlue rose modestly. Shares of Frontier fell slightly.
