• Frontier CEO said recently sweetened cash-and-stock bid is its “last, best and final” offer
• 'We still remain very far from obtaining approval from Spirit stockholders,' Biffle wrote, proposing to delay shareholder vote
Low-cost carrier Frontier Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ULCC) has decided not to further raise its bid for Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE: SAVE) takeover, potentially withdrawing itself from a months-long bidding war with JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ: JBLU).
Spirit signed a cash-and-stock deal with rival Frontier in February to become a new airline in the US and compete against big national carriers.
Since then, JetBlue and Frontier have been fighting to seal a deal which would expand their domestic footprints and create the fifth-largest US airline.
Frontier CEO Barry Biffle on Sunday sent a letter to Spirit saying the Florida-based ultra-low-cost carrier should consider last month’s revised merger agreement as its “last, best and final offer.”
He also expressed his company’s willingness to waive its right to match JetBlue’s latest offer.
Last month, Frontier agreed to sweeten the deal by increasing the cash component by $2 per share to $4.13 per share. The Denver-based carrier also increased its reverse termination fee to Spirit by $100 million to $350 million.
Frontier’s cash-and-stock offer stood at $24.69 per share as of Friday’s close.
JetBlue, however, responded with a higher bid, raising the overall offer value to $3.7 billion in cash.
“In line with our recent discussions, Frontier does not intend to propose any further modifications to the financial terms of the Merger Agreement,” Biffle wrote in his letter.
The bidding war has repeatedly forced Spirit to delay a shareholder vote on its merger deal with Frontier.
The shareholder vote is now scheduled for Friday.
However, Biffle proposed Spirit to defer the vote until July 27, citing the need for more time to gather sufficient proxy support.
“We still remain very far from obtaining approval from Spirit stockholders based on the proxy data we received as of July 8,” he said, urging Spirit’s board to reiterate its support for a merger deal with Frontier.
Picture Credit: CNBC
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