JetBlue Launches Tender Offer for Spirit Airlines at $30 a Share

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Spirit Airways

shares surged Monday after

JetBlue Airways

launched a hostile takeover for the low cost provider.

JetBlue (ticker: JBLU) has begun a young supply for Spirit (SAVE) shares. Spirit rejected JetBlue’s $3.6 billion takeover proposal earlier this month, opting to stay with a lower-priced bid from 

Frontier Group

(ULCC).

“Given the Spirit Board of Administrators’ full unwillingness to share the identical essential diligence info that was shared with Frontier, JetBlue is now providing to accumulate Spirit for $30 per share in money via a totally financed tender supply,” JetBlue mentioned in a press release Monday.

“This represents a 60% premium to the worth of the Frontier transaction as of Could 13, 2022 — a really compelling supply and better than the premium implied by JetBlue’s unique proposal. JetBlue is absolutely ready to barter in good religion a consensual transaction at $33, topic to receiving essential diligence,” the airline added.

Spirit didn’t reply to a request for remark from Barron’s on Monday.

JetBlue’s preliminary supply value for Spirit was $33 a share.

JetBlue additionally on Monday urged Spirit shareholders in a letter to vote towards what it referred to as “the inferior, excessive danger, and low worth Spirit/Frontier transaction” at Spirit’s particular assembly subsequent month.

JetBlue mentioned in a submitting with the Securities and Change Fee that it has acquired from

Goldman Sachs

a sign of its willingness to underwrite $3.5 billion in new debt to assist finance the acquisition of Spririt.

Spirit shares jumped 11.8% Monday to $18.99. JetBlue fell 4.4% to $9.62. Frontier shares rose 5.6%.

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com