Spirit Airlines calls on shareholders to decline JetBlue bids

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Spirit Airlines urged shareholders to refuse JetBlue Airlines’ hostile bids on Thursday, calling the merger with Frontier Airlines an “irony attempt”.

JetBlue states that the $ 30 per share offer outweighs the value of frontier cash and stock trading, and regulatory concerns are not the reason for rejecting the bid. Shareholders will vote for a frontier offer to value the spirit at $ 20.18 on June 10.

Spirit questioned JetBlue’s disclosure on Monday, adding that the acquisition of Spirit has long been a “strategic” goal and that antitrust issues mean that the deal could not be completed.

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JetBlue Airlines, which offered $ 33 per share in early April, claims the deal could make it more competitive with the US “Big Four” airline, which controls nearly 80% of the passenger market. I am.

JetBlue, the sixth largest passenger airline in the United States, operates Spirit under the JetBlue brand, but if the deal fails due to antitrust reasons, a $ 200 million reverse split fee, or Spirit 1 share. I promised $ 1.80 per.

“In the extensive debate between Spirit and JetBlue, JetBlue itself admitted that the proceedings from the Justice Department trying to prevent the merger were 100% certain. Blue needs to win or settle in order to complete the proposed acquisition of Spirit (which goes against DOJ’s professed enforcement approach), “Spirit said in a statement.

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JetBlue did not comment immediately on Thursday.

In a letter to Spirit’s shareholders on Monday, JetBlue offered $ 30 per share and was “prepared to sincerely negotiate a $ 33 agreed deal, subject to the necessary care. It’s done. “

“The focus on JetBlue’s spirit seems to be an attempt to distract from the fact that JetBlue’s own business is in turmoil,” Spirit said Thursday, with rival stocks at around 34% since March 29. He added that it had fallen.

“JetBlue shareholders clearly agree that their bizarre proposal to Spirit is a dead end and poses significant risks to their business,” Spirit added. (Report by David Shepardson, edited by Toby Chopra and Alexander Smith)