Spirit Airlines said it postponed a shareholder vote scheduled for Friday on its sale so the board can continue discussions with Frontier and JetBlue Airways.
Over the past few months, JetBlue and Frontier, led by influential airline investor Bill Franke, have repeatedly sweentened their bids for Spirit, seeking to create the fifth largest U.S. airline.
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The Spirit shareholder vote, which has been delayed twice before, is being pushed back for a third time to give Spirit and JetBlue time to finalize a deal, sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.
Spirit said it now plans to hold a special meeting on July 15.
JetBlue submitted a sweetened $3.7 billion all-cash bid last month but Spirit has been reluctant to accept JetBlue’s much more financially attractive offer due to concerns that antitrust regulators may reject it, according to the sources.
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JetBlue is already facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department over its partnership with American Airlines in the New York and Boston areas.
The Frontier deal is also expected to face antitrust scrutiny. But Spirit and some analysts say that deal has a better chance of getting a nod from regulators.
Both bidders view Spirit as an opportunity to expand their domestic footprints and reshape the U.S. airline industry, which is largely dominated by four domestic carriers.
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