After months of back-and-forth, Spirit Airlines announced on Wednesday that it was abandoning its merger with Frontier Group, opening the door to a possible acquisition by JetBlue.
The Spirit Frontier deal announced in February was thrown into doubt in early April when JetBlue Airways launched its own takeover bid and then made a hostile takeover bid as smaller airlines sought to scale up to take on the biggest US carriers.
Spirit officials continued to support the frontier deal, in part due to concerns that JetBlue’s bid could run into trouble with antitrust authorities.
But company leaders ran into trouble with Spirit shareholders and were repeatedly forced to postpone an investor vote on the Frontier Agreement.
“While we are disappointed to have had to complete our proposed merger with Frontier, we are proud of the dedicated work of our team members on the transaction over the past few months,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s chief executive, in a statement.
“Going forward, Spirit’s Board of Directors will continue our ongoing discussions with JetBlue as we pursue what is best for Spirit and our shareholders.”
JetBlue’s latest offering values Spirit at $3.7 billion, almost a billion more than Frontier’s value.
JetBlue’s offer includes a potential $400 million payment to Spirit if regulators block the acquisition.
All three companies want to grow to better compete with the largest US airlines American, United, Delta and Southwest.
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