Spirit Airlines, JetBlue lock horns over takeover

(Reuters) – The battle to snap up Spirit Airways is heating up. Frontier Group Holdings Inc has agreed to pay a break-up charge of $250 million in a bid to salvage its $2.9 billion acquisition of Spirit Airways.

JetBlue Airways Corp, which is locked in a takeover battle for Spirit with Frontier Group, has argued {that a} deal would assist the businesses higher compete with the “Large 4” U.S. airways that management almost 80% of the passenger market within the nation.

Under are the important thing occasions within the takeover saga:

Date Growth

Feb. 7 Frontier makes a cash-and-stock supply of $25.83/share for Spirit

Airways

Feb. 8 Attorneys from the U.S. Justice Division say Spirit and Frontier’s

merger to create the fifth-largest airline within the nation would

face shut scrutiny

March 10 A number of public advocacy teams name on U.S. regulators to dam

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 protection of its unsolicited $3.6 billion

bid for Spirit, including that it’s “extremely assured” of securing

regulatory approval

April 7 Spirit says that it might enter into discussions with JetBlue on

its $3.6-billion supply because it may doubtless result in a “superior

proposal” to the one from Frontier

Might 2 Spirit rejects JetBlue’s $33/share supply, saying it had a low

chance of profitable regulatory approval

Might 10 Head of Solar Nation Airways throws his backing behind potential

merger within the ultra-low-cost airline sector

Might 11 Spirit says it is going to maintain a shareholder assembly on June 10 for a

vote on its proposed merger with Frontier

Might 16 JetBlue makes hostile all-cash takeover supply of $30/share and provides

it was able to “negotiate in good religion a consensual transaction

at $33″

Might 19 Spirit Airways urges shareholders to reject the hostile supply from

JetBlue, saying it was “a cynical try to disrupt” its merger

with Frontier

Might 31 Proxy advisory agency ISS has urged Spirit shareholders to vote

in opposition to a proposed merger with Frontier

June 2 Frontier agrees to pay a break-up charge of $250 million in a bid to

salvage its $2.9 billion acquisition of Spirit Airways

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Sweta Singh and Shounak Dasgupta)