Spirit Airlines delays vote on buyout offers from Jetblue, Frontier

Another unexpected mid-air turn has taken place in the not-so friendly battle for Spirit Airlines.

Spirit Airlines said late Wednesday that it would delay its shareholder vote on buyout offers from Frontier Airlines and Jetblue until July 8. The company was scheduled to hold a vote on Thursday, but will now continue to talk with both parties.

The news is the latest in a campaign to gobble up the low-fare carrier.

Spirit rebuffed JetBlue's bid of $3.6 billion in April, citing the uncertainty surrounding regulatory approval. Since then, the two airlines have been exchanging unpleasantries and higher offer prices.

JetBlue raised its reverse breakup fee to $400 million from $350 million in its latest attempt to sweeten its bid. It proposed paying $2.50 a share in advance compared to its previous offer of $1.50 a share and added a $0.10 per share monthly payment to shareholders beginning in 2023 and lasting until the deal is completed or terminated.

Frontier has increased its upfront offer to $4.13 a share from $2.13 previously, and lifted its reverse breakup fee to $350 million.

Spirit Airlines Ted Christie spoke about the proposal on Yahoo Finance Live a few hours before deciding to delay Thursday's shareholder vote after we heard from JetBlue nearly three months ago about their unsolicited proposal. When their position turned hostile to us, the rhetoric has kind of dominated, which in my view appears childish. A Jetblue spokeswoman told Yahoo Finance that we had productive meetings with Spirit shareholders and that they have been supportive of our transaction. The Spirit board needs to listen to what their shareholders want, and if their shareholders vote down the Frontier transaction, we are ready to do a consensual deal with Spirit. If Jetblue gains Spirit, it would have access to a lucrative pipeline of new jets and pilots, among other advantages. If Frontier and Spirit move forward with the merger, the airline would be the fifth-largest in the United States and gain a stronger hold in the Western market. It would be the biggest airline deal since Alaska Airlines combined with Virgin America in 2016

Barry Biffle, the CEO of Frontier Airlines, told Yahoo Finance Live earlier this week that Spirit has a clear choice, but he said he is looking forward to putting the drama behind the company and getting Spirit's assets on board.

Biffle said that JetBlue has done a lot of mischaracterizations and so forth, and Frontier's offer has received the blessing of influential corporate governance firm Institutional Shareholder Services ISS All I know is that we're really pleased to see ISS come in and recommend our deal for shareholders. You can follow Sozzi on Twitter and LinkedIn.