Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) announced that its shareholders have decided to terminate the merger agreement with Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. , the parent company of Frontier Airlines, Inc.
The decision leaves the door open for Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) to continue ongoing talks with JetBlue (JBLU), Frontier’s long-time rival in the pursuit of a merger deal with the Florida-based ultra low-cost carrier.
“While we are disappointed that we had to terminate our proposed merger with Frontier, we are proud of the dedicated work of our Team Members on the transaction over the past many months,”Ted Christie, President and CEO of Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) said in a statement dated July 27, 2022.
Christie added: “Moving forward, the Spirit Board of Directors will continue our ongoing discussions with JetBlue (JBLU) as we pursue the best path forward for Spirit and our stockholders.”
The decision came five months after Spirit and Frontier Airlines announced in February 2022 its plans to merge and create a huge ultra low-cost discount airline that would compete with American, United, Delta and Southwest.
JetBlue (JBLU) entered the merger party in April 2022, making aggressive offers to Spirit in the hopes that it will drop talks with Frontier. Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) initially rebuffed JetBlue’s (JBLU) ardent offers, saying it will proceed with the merger plans with Frontier in May 2022.
What ensued next were weeks and months of JetBlue (JBLU) stepping up its offer to sweeten the deal, and Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) enjoying its position in choosing better offers between its two rival acquisition ‘suitors’.
As a last attempt to win more votes from shareholders Frontier asked Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) to delay its shareholder meeting on July 13, 2022. Frontier’s journey in pursuing a merger with Spirit Airlines (S64) (SAVE) came to an end two weeks later, when shareholders rejected Frontiers ‘last, best and final’ offer.