Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) wasted little time in rebooking after cancelling its planned merger with Frontier Holdings Group . Less than 24 hours after Spirit terminated the Frontier deal, it has agreed to be acquired by JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) , causing Spirit shares to jump 5% higher on Thursday.
Spirit and Frontier first announced plans to merge back in February, but JetBlue set its sights on the airline soon after and launched a hostile offer to try to break up the Spirit/Frontier deal. On Wednesday, Spirit and Frontier terminated their agreement after failing to win Spirit shareholder support. On Thursday, JetBlue swept in.
JetBlue agreed to pay $33.50 per share for Spirit, valuing the airline at $7.6 billion including debt. The deal terms include a $2.50 per-share payment to Spirit holders as soon as shareholders sign off on the deal, and a monthly per-share payment starting in January if JetBlue is unable to quickly win regulatory approval.
For further details see:
Why Spirit Airlines Stock Is Flying High Today