{"id":40123,"date":"2022-06-07T07:09:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T07:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bidding-war-for-spirit-airlines-heats-up-jetblue-sweetens-offer\/"},"modified":"2022-06-07T07:09:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T07:09:59","slug":"bidding-war-for-spirit-airlines-heats-up-jetblue-sweetens-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bidding-war-for-spirit-airlines-heats-up-jetblue-sweetens-offer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bidding war for Spirit Airlines heats up;  JetBlue sweetens offer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-0\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">CHICAGO \/ WASHINGTON \/ NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) &#8211; JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) on Monday improved its offer for Spirit Airlines Inc (SAVE.N), intensifying the bidding war for the ultra-low-cost-carrier whose shareholders are due to vote this week on a merger agreement with Frontier Group Holdings Inc (ULCC.O).<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-1\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">JetBlue increased its reverse break-up fee by $ 150 million to $ 350 million, payable to Spirit shareholders in case the deal falls through due to antitrust reasons.  Spirit&#8217;s shares closed up 7%.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-2\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">The revised offer comes days after Frontier agreed to pay Spirit a break-up fee of $ 250 million.  read more <\/p>\n<div class=\"registration-prompt__container__2jf5K registration-prompt__inline__2WDU- article-body__element__2p5pI article-body__inline-registration-prompt__1-N9W\">\n<div class=\"registration-prompt__text-content__o0YET\">\n<h5 data-testid=\"Heading\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__white__3r45t text__medium__1kbOh text__heading_5__2krbj heading__base__2T28j heading__heading_5__2A2g- registration-prompt__heading__3fq-h\">Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com<\/h5>\n<p><button data-testid=\"Button\" class=\"button__button__2Ecqi button__secondary__18moI button__round__1nYLA text-button__container__3q3zX registration-prompt__button-text__3kTtQ\" type=\"button\"><\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"Text\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__bold__2-8Kc text__default__UPMUu text-button__medium__113uZ\">Register<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-3\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Under JetBlue&#8217;s revised terms, Spirit shareholders would receive $ 31.50 per share in cash, comprising $ 30 at the deal&#8217;s close and prepayment of $ 1.50 from a raised reverse break-up fee soon after Spirit shareholders vote to approve a deal.  As a result, its offer is now worth $ 3.4 billion.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-4\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Its shareholders are scheduled to vote on Friday on Frontier&#8217;s stock-and-cash offer, which was initially valued at $ 2.9 billion.  Spirit said its board will evaluate JetBlue&#8217;s new proposal and respond in due course.  It asked shareholders not to take any action at this stage.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-5\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">US carriers have been trying to expand their domestic footprints while being dogged by persistent labor and aircraft shortages.  Either of the two deals will create the fifth-largest US airline.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-6\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Spirit rejected JetBlue&#8217;s offer last month saying it had a low likelihood of winning approval from US regulators, prompting the New York-based carrier to launch a hostile takeover bid.  read more <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"gallery-0\" domain=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\" article_url=\"\/markets\/deals\/jetblue-submits-improved-proposal-buy-spirit-2022-06-06\/\">\n<div class=\"inline-gallery__detail__3ZG21\">\n<div class=\"caption__container__1o2DX inline-gallery__caption__1BuRa\">\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__white__3r45t text__regular__2N1Xr text__small__1kGq2 body__base__22dCE body__caption__3L8vY caption__text__GE-bd caption__collapsed__XIFyB\">JetBlue Airways aircraft are pictured at departure gates at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York June 15, 2013. REUTERS \/ Fred Prouser<\/p>\n<p><button data-testid=\"Button\" class=\"button__button__2Ecqi button__ghost__1gV9w button__round__1nYLA text-button__container__3q3zX caption__readmore__V8B-O caption__collapsed__XIFyB\" type=\"button\"><\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"Text\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__bold__2-8Kc text__default__UPMUu text-button__medium__113uZ\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-7\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Savanthi Syth, airline analyst at Raymond James, said the revised offer is likely to &#8220;appease&#8221; Spirit shareholders who have antitrust concerns about a deal with JetBlue.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-8\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">In the latest offer, JetBlue did not offer to unwind its &#8220;Northeast Alliance&#8221; (NEA) partnership with American Airlines <aal.o>.  That was a sticking point with Spirit, which has been leery of antitrust concerns.  The Justice Department sued JetBlue in September to unwind the partnership.<\/aal.o><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-9\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">JetBlue Chief Executive Robin Hayes told CNBC the airline had made &#8220;unprecedented divestiture commitments&#8221; to win regulatory approval.  &#8220;We need the Spirit board to seriously consider our offer,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-10\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Industry sources said Spirit is still committed to the deal with Frontier, but the company may be forced to switch sides if it faces mounting pressure from large institutional shareholders.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-11\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Last week, proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis recommended Spirit investors back the Frontier deal;  another proxy firm, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc, advised against it.  read more <\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-12\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">The new JetBlue offer will trigger ISS and Glass Lewis opinion revisions on the Frontier deal, the sources added.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-13\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">On Monday, JetBlue also reached out to Spirit workers, promising them better pay and benefits, more jobs, career development and no furloughs.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-14\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Spirit&#8217;s agreement with Frontier has also pledged to avoid any job losses and add 10,000 direct jobs by 2026.<\/p>\n<div class=\"registration-prompt__container__2jf5K registration-prompt__inline__2WDU- article-body__element__2p5pI\">\n<div class=\"registration-prompt__text-content__o0YET\">\n<h5 data-testid=\"Heading\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__white__3r45t text__medium__1kbOh text__heading_5__2krbj heading__base__2T28j heading__heading_5__2A2g- registration-prompt__heading__3fq-h\">Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com<\/h5>\n<p><button data-testid=\"Button\" class=\"button__button__2Ecqi button__secondary__18moI button__round__1nYLA text-button__container__3q3zX registration-prompt__button-text__3kTtQ\" type=\"button\"><\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"Text\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__inherit-color__3208F text__bold__2-8Kc text__default__UPMUu text-button__medium__113uZ\">Register<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"Text\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__default__UPMUu sign-off__text__PU3Aj\">Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago, David Shepardson in Washington and Anirban Sen in New York Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru;  Editing by Devika Syamnath, Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__base__22dCE body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\">Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CHICAGO \/ WASHINGTON \/ NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) &#8211; JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) on Monday improved its offer for Spirit Airlines Inc (SAVE.N), intensifying the bidding war for the ultra-low-cost-carrier whose shareholders are due to vote this week on a merger agreement with Frontier Group Holdings Inc (ULCC.O). JetBlue increased its reverse break-up fee &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/bidding-war-for-spirit-airlines-heats-up-jetblue-sweetens-offer\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bidding war for Spirit Airlines heats up;  JetBlue sweetens offer<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[8],"tags":[11722,15068,11723,56,429,430,431,25,1000,29,3549,11039,433,1355,259,260,1602,3552,64,3554,11726,87,1007,15069,1603,48,285,75,5994,5995,57],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/resizer\/lvpWuUAauTPbyNdOYF_aEVSgvdw=\/1200x628\/smart\/filters:quality(80)\/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com\/reuters\/2GOPYAOO7ZJNZJ5PHANIMBNL7A.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40123"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}