(Reuters) – The battle to snap up Spirit Airlines is heating up. Frontier Group Holdings Inc has agreed to pay a break-up fee of $250 million in a bid to salvage its $2.9 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines.
JetBlue Airways Corp, which is locked in a takeover battle for Spirit with Frontier Group, has argued that a deal would help the companies better compete with the “Big Four” U.S. airlines that control nearly 80% of the passenger market in the country.
Below are the key events in the takeover saga:
Date Development
Feb. 7 Frontier makes a cash-and-stock offer of $25.83/share for Spirit
Airlines
Feb. 8 Lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department say Spirit and Frontier’s
merger to create the fifth-largest airline in the country would
face close scrutiny
March 10 Several public advocacy groups call on U.S. regulators to block
Frontier’s bid for Spirit
April 5 JetBlue makes an unsolicited $3.6 billion, or $33/share, all-cash
bid for Spirit
April 6 JetBlue mounts a vigorous defense of its unsolicited $3.6 billion
bid for Spirit, adding that it is “highly confident” of securing
regulatory approval
April 7 Spirit says that it would enter into discussions with JetBlue on
its $3.6-billion offer as it could likely lead to a “superior
proposal” to the one from Frontier
May 2 Spirit rejects JetBlue’s $33/share offer, saying it had a low
likelihood of winning regulatory approval
May 10 Head of Sun Country Airlines throws his backing behind potential
merger in the ultra-low-cost airline sector
May 11 Spirit says it will hold a shareholder meeting on June 10 for a
vote on its proposed merger with Frontier
May 16 JetBlue makes hostile all-cash takeover offer of $30/share and adds
it was ready to “negotiate in good faith a consensual transaction
at $33″
May 19 Spirit Airlines urges shareholders to reject the hostile offer from
JetBlue, saying it was “a cynical attempt to disrupt” its merger
with Frontier
May 31 Proxy advisory firm ISS has urged Spirit shareholders to vote
against a proposed merger with Frontier
June 2 Frontier agrees to pay a break-up fee of $250 million in a bid to
salvage its $2.9 billion acquisition of Spirit Airlines
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sweta Singh and Shounak Dasgupta)
