Spirit Airlines will begin talks with JetBlue Airways Corp for its $ 3.6 billion bid, the financial carrier said late Thursday, as it could likely lead to a “superior bid” from Frontier Group Holdings. JetBlue made an unsolicited offer of $ 33 per share in cash earlier this week, surpassing a cash and stock offer of almost $ 25 per share from Frontier in February. GET FOX BUSINESS IN ENGINE BY CLICKING HERE “We look forward to working with Spirit Board to finalize our combination, to create a national low-cost competitor for the four major dominant US carriers that will result in lower fares and better customer service,” said its CEO. JetBlue, Robin Hayes. Spirit Airlines (Emma Wareus) Frontier did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spirit said talks with JetBlue would be in line with the terms of its merger agreement with Frontier. Denver-based Frontier and JetBlue are on a Florida-based Spirit tug of war to gain more market share in the leisure market and better compete with older companies. JETBLUE OFFERS SPIRIT AIRLINES BUY FOR ABOUT $ 3.6 BILLY CASH The move towards unification comes at a time when the pandemic-stricken airline industry is working through higher fuel and labor costs to keep up with traveler demand. An Airbus A320 from Jetblue Airways taking off from Fort Lauderdale Airport. (Credit: iStock / iStock) Both agreements are sure to call for closer scrutiny by US antitrust authorities, who have taken an aggressive stance under the Biden administration against agreements that reduce competition and raise prices. Ticker Security Last change% JBLU JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP. 12.08 -0.37 -2.97% SAVE SPIRIT AIRLINES INC. 26.51 +0.23 + 0.88% ULCC FRONTIER GROUP HOLDINGS 10.70 + 0.89%. JetBlue is already facing antitrust lawsuits for its partnership with American Airlines Group Inc. The lawsuit, filed in September, alleges the deal would result in higher fares at the northeastern United States’ busiest airports. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS Shares of Spirit have lost 1.5% since JetBlue made its offer on April 5, while those of JetBlue fell 11.4%. (Report by Nilanjana Basu and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Edited by Arun Koyyur)
