This is getting to be like 'Succession' and 'Billions' all rolled into one.
Has any airline merger ever played out so dramatically, and so much like a saga, as the Spirit Airlines' choice between merging with its original suitor, Frontier Airlines, or being taken over by JetBlue Airways?
The latest plot twist and water cooler talk came Wednesday.
Just hours before Spirit shareholders were to meet to vote on which proposal to choose from on Thursday, June 30, Spirit for the second time has delayed the vote to reconsider yet another upgraded offer from JetBlue.
The original vote on June 10 was postponed to June 30. That vote is now postponed until July 8.
The delay is "to allow the Spirit Board of Directors to continue discussions with Frontier and JetBlue Airways Corporation and to continue to solicit proxies from its stockholders with respect to the Special Meeting. There will be no voting or other matters conducted at the meeting on June 30, 2022, and the Company intends to reconvene the Special Meeting on July 8, 2022, at 11 a.m. ET," Spirit said in a statement.
Ironically, the adjournment of the vote comes barely two days after Spirit reaffirmed its commitment to the Frontier deal after an advisory proxy firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, recommended that Spirit stockholders take the Frontier deal. JetBlue then quickly countered with its third upgraded offer since initially putting forth a big back in April.
But Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry consultant and president of Atmosphere Research Group, told CNBC that "Spirit would not have postponed tomorrow's meeting if they felt they had the votes (to merge with Frontier). This is like the end of a soap opera episode."
JetBlue issued the following statement from Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, regarding this decision to delay its special meeting:
"We compliment the Spirit Board for listening to their shareholders, who clearly were not supportive of the Frontier transaction, and adjourning the Special Meeting. We look forward to commencing a constructive and substantive dialogue with them. It's clear that Spirit shareholders have now handed the Spirit Board an undeniable mandate to reach an agreement with JetBlue. The Spirit Board has so far not walked away from the Frontier transaction and we continue to strongly recommend that Spirit shareholders let the Spirit Board know that preventing their shareholders from receiving the superior value JetBlue has proposed is unacceptable, by voting AGAINST the Frontier transaction."
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