Spirit Delays Frontier Deal Vote, Talks With JetBlue Continue

Spirit Airlines Inc. has postponed a shareholder vote slated for Friday on its $2.4 billion sale to Frontier Group Holdings Inc. so that its board of directors can continue talks with both Frontier and JetBlue Airways, Anirban Sen and Svea Herbst-Bayliss reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The Spirit shareholder vote, which has already been postponed twice, is being postponed a third time to give Spirit and JetBlue time to clinch a deal.

JetBlue and Frontier, led by renowned airline investor Bill Franke, have repeatedly sweetened their bids for Spirit in recent months, trying to establish the fifth largest US airline.

The Spirit shareholder vote, which has already been postponed twice, is being postponed a third time to give Spirit and JetBlue time to clinch a deal, according to sources who requested anonymity because the discussions are confidential.

Spirit has announced that it would conduct a special meeting on July 15. In a statement, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes stated that the airline was "encouraged by our discussions with Spirit and are hopeful they now recognize that Spirit shareholders have indicated their clear, overwhelming preference for an agreement with JetBlue."

According to the sources, JetBlue presented a sweetened $3.7 billion all-cash deal last month, but Spirit has been hesitant to accept JetBlue's significantly more financially appealing offer due to concerns that antitrust regulators may reject it.

The US Justice Department has already filed a case against JetBlue for its collaboration with American Airlines in the New York and Boston markets.

There is no guarantee that JetBlue will provide Spirit with the required regulatory assurances to clinch an agreement, and Frontier, which has already improved its offer, may come back with a new bid, according to the sources.

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