A Spirit Airlines aircraft on the tarmac on the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on February 07, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Spirit Airlines on Wednesday delayed shareholder vote on its proposed merger with Frontier Airlines till July 8, hours earlier than a gathering scheduled for Thursday so it will probably additional talk about choices with Frontier and rival suitor JetBlue Airways.
It is the second time Spirit has delayed a vote on its deliberate mixture with Frontier and extends essentially the most contentious battle for a U.S. airline in years.
Spirit initially scheduled Thursday’s vote for June 10 however had delayed that for a similar causes.
Both Frontier and JetBlue have upped their affords within the week earlier than the scheduled vote approached.
“Spirit wouldn’t have postponed tomorrow’s assembly in the event that they felt they’d the votes,” mentioned Henry Harteveldt, a journey business advisor and president of Atmosphere Research Group. Spirit did not touch upon whether or not that’s the case.
“We praise the Spirit Board for listening to their shareholders, who clearly weren’t supportive of the Frontier transaction, and adjourning the Special Meeting,” JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes mentioned in an announcement later Wednesday.
“It’s clear that Spirit shareholders have now handed the Spirit Board an simple mandate to achieve an settlement with JetBlue.”
“This is like the tip of a cleaning soap opera episode,” Harteveldt added.
Frontier and Spirit first introduced their intent to merge in February. In April, JetBlue made an all-cash, shock bid for Spirit, however Spirit’s board has repeatedly rejected JetBlue’s affords, arguing a JetBlue takeover would not move muster with regulators.
Either mixture would create the United States’ fifth-largest service.
JetBlue has fired again at Spirit, saying it didn’t negotiate in good religion, setting off a disagreement between the airways as they competed for shareholder help forward of the vote.
Frontier did not instantly remark concerning the postponed vote.
Spirit shares have been up about 2% in afterhours buying and selling, whereas Frontier was up greater than 1% and JetBlue was down 1%.
