Some analysts said that the small size of Frontier and Spirit would have earned them a pass from antitrust regulators in previous administrations, but not any more.
The president and his top antitrust official in the Justice Department have both indicated a dislike for corporate mergers. The Biden administration was always likely to take a close look at either deal. Not surprisingly, JetBlue disagreed with that view. Spirit's board stood by the Frontier deal for months, in the face of a higher-priced offer from JetBlue, by arguing that antitrust regulators would never let JetBlue buy the nation's biggest budget airline and remove it as a competitor to higher-priced carriers. “Rather than overpay for Spirit, the board prioritized the interests of Frontier, our employees and our shareholders,” Biffle said on a call to discuss second-quarter earnings.Īttention now will focus on whether Spirit and JetBlue can agree on terms and win shareholder approval, and on the regulatory hurdles to a deal.
On Wednesday, CEO Barry Biffle said he was disappointed in the outcome, but that the Frontier board had taken “a disciplined approach” to merger negotiations. JetBlue issued a statement saying it was pleased that the Frontier deal was terminated and it was talking to Spirit about negotiating an agreement as soon as possible.įrontier signaled two weeks ago that it would not increase its bid, which was worth more than $2.6 billion in stock and cash - less than JetBlue's all-cash offer of $3.7 billion.