Now, JetBlue is appealing directly to Spirit’s shareholders, urging them to vote against the Frontier deal while launching its own all-cash offer of $30 per share.
JetBlue said in a statement Monday that its offer represented a “60% premium to the value of the Frontier transaction.” The airline added that it was willing to negotiate a $33-per-share deal if Spirit agrees to provide information about its business that JetBlue claims has been withheld.
“The Spirit Board failed to provide us the necessary diligence information it had provided Frontier and then summarily rejected our proposal, which addressed its regulatory concerns, without asking us even a single question about it,” JetBlue said in a letter addressed to Spirit shareholders. “The Spirit Board based its rejection on unsupportable claims that are easily refuted.”
Spirit’s rejection
Spirit rejected a $33 a share cash offer from JetBlue on April 2, saying that it didn’t believe a merger with the company would be cleared by regulators, and that “given this substantial completion risk, we believe JetBlue’s economic offer is illusory.”
Shares of Frontier were slightly higher in premarket trading Monday on news of JetBlue’s hostile takeover attempt, but even with the rise, its offer for Spirit is worth less than $20 a share. Shares of Spirit were also higher on the JetBlue news, while JetBlue shares were narrowly lower.
Spirit did not immediate reply to a request for comment.