Spirit Airlines has terminated its merger agreement with Frontier Airlines, the companies said late Wednesday, creating an opening for a potential deal between Spirit and New York-based JetBlue. Spirit indicated it would continue talks with JetBlue, which has made several overtures for the Florida-based ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) it characterized as superior to the original Frontier offer. JetBlue characterized its first offer for Frontier, tendered on April 5, as a “superior proposal” to the original offer from Frontier. Spirit and Frontier on February 7 agreed to merge but didn’t expect the deal to close until the second half of the year. On May 16 JetBlue said it had filed a “Vote No” proxy statement urging Spirit Airlines shareholders to vote against the planned Spirit-Frontier Airlines merger, signaling the launch of a hostile takeover bid.

Source: Forbes July 28, 2022 10:36 UTC