Frontier Group has asked Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) to delay a shareholder meeting on a proposed merger between the two companies to give more time to win approval from shareholders.
In a letter to Spirit management dated July 10, 2022, Frontier also said it would not be altering the terms of its proposal but noted that a rival bid from JetBlue (JBLU) seemed increasingly unlikely to win regulatory approval.
Spirit has already delayed a vote on its proposed $2.4 billion deal with Frontier several times after JetBlue (JBLU) launched a rival takeover offer, prompting a tussle over future control of the ultra-low-cost carrier. The meeting is now due to take place on July 15, 2022.
In the letter, which Frontier released to the stock exchange on July 11, 2022, Frontier requests that the meeting be delayed to July 27, 2022.
“We still remain very far from obtaining approval from Spirit stockholders based on the proxy data we received as of July 8, 2022,” Frontier chief executive Barry Biffle wrote in the letter. “We stand ready to continue to speak with investors and advocate for our transaction.”
Frontier also asked Spirit to respond to the latest offer proposal from JetBlue (JBLU) and said that its latest offer represented “Frontier’s last, best and final offer”.
“In line with our recent discussions, Frontier does not intend to propose any further modifications to the financial terms of the Merger Agreement.” the airline said.
Frontier also said that a recent decision by the US Department of Transportation to award slots at Newark International Airport to Spirit indicated that a Spirit-JetBlue (JBLU) deal would be unlikely to get regulatory approval.
“The path to regulatory approval of a JetBlue (JBLU)-Spirit combination seems more impossible by the day,” Frontier wrote.