Spirit Airlines stood by a takeover bid from Frontier Group even after rival suitor JetBlue Airways Corp. further sweetened its offer in the final days before a crucial shareholder vote. The revised JetBlue proposal, which includes a higher breakup fee and larger upfront payment, won the backing of Spirit investor TIG Advisors LLC Tuesday. Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. acknowledged the improved terms without changing its earlier recommendation in favor of the Frontier deal. The flurry of developments showed how battle lines are hardening ahead of a vote Thursday that should determine which of the two carriers will move ahead with a Spirit merger. The late-stage bidding war sent Spirit’s shares up 1.9% at 11:16 a.m. Tuesday in New York. Frontier climbed 3.2% and JetBlue gained 1.7%. JetBlue and Frontier are seeking to woo shareholders in the pursuit of Spirit, a deep discounter with low fares and fees for anything extra. The would-be buyers covet Spirit for the growth and competitive strength they could quickly gain through an acquisition. The US industry is dominated by four major carriers, and the victor in the war for Spirit would be ranked fifth, based on domestic passenger traffic. The newest JetBlue proposal includes an accelerated prepayment of $2.50 a share, structured as a cash dividend to shareholders after approval of the terms. That’s up from $1.50 a share in a prior offer. JetBlue said it also increased its breakup fee to $400m from $350m, to be paid if antitrust regulators block the combination.<br/>
unaligned
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said JetBlue Airways Corp's latest offer to buy Spirit Airlines is "more favorable" for the ultra-low-cost airline's shareholders, but maintained its support for the Frontier deal. Spirit Airlines on Tuesday again cited antitrust concerns to reject JetBlue's sweetened offer and asked its shareholders to vote for a merger with Frontier at Thursday's meeting. The influential proxy advisory firm in a report dated Monday said, with the shareholder meet to approve the deal set as early as Thursday, it was hesitant to change its earlier stand recommending them to vote for Frontier's offer. "The addition of the ticking fee in the JetBlue offer – a provision without a counterpart in the Frontier offer – provides a further level of regulatory risk mitigation," ISS said. JetBlue's ticking fee would give Spirit shareholders a monthly prepayment of 10 cents per share between January 2023 and the closing of the deal. ISS in a report published on Friday had urged shareholders of Spirit Airlines to vote for a proposed merger with Frontier Group, after it boosted its offer for the airline. Both JetBlue and Bill Franke-backed Frontier are locked in an intense bidding war for Spirit as they seek to create the fifth-largest airline in the United States that can take on the legacy players.<br/>
Norwegian carrier Flyr has axed plans to offer up to 62.5 million new shares in the company, after the stock’s trading value remained below the offer price. Flyr had raised NKr250m ($25m) during a rights issue at the beginning of the year, an issue which was oversubscribed by more than 40%. It then privately allocated a further separate batch of shares to TV 2 Invest, a division of Norwegian media company TV 2 Gruppen, as part of a marketing agreement. Two further private placements – at a share price of NKr1.20 – raised another NKr250m for the company in May, even as the company unveiled a heavy Q1 loss of NKr211m, largely the result of pandemic restrictions. The airline’s share price, which had climbed to around NKr2.20 at the end of April, subsequently sank.<br/>
The merger deal between El Al Israel Airlines and Arkia Israeli Airlines is getting further away. The merger is still being examined by El Al, as the company stated in a notification to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange today, but sources say that Arkia is talking to alternative buyers on taking over the company and replacing the current controlling shareholders, brothers Joe, Raffi and Avi Nakash, who hold 70% of the shares in the company. The remaining 30% are held by Arkia's employees. Up to now, Arkia has been barred from negotiating with other buyers by the exclusivity it gave to El Al. The period of exclusivity ends on June 29, and Arkia does not wish to extend it. Potential buyers can now obtain details about the company and start a due diligence process while negotiating. Another possibility that Arkia is examining is a public offering, like that of rival airline Israir, which recently raised NIS 25m at a valuation of NIS 250m.<br/>
SpiceJet is planning to take delivery of at least seven Boeing Co. 737 Max jets this year, according to people familiar with the matter, amid speculation the no-frills Indian carrier may not have enough cash to make pre-delivery payments. The airline—the only operator of Max jets in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market—will add the planes in the three months through December, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The carrier is also negotiating for five more 737 Max jets, the people said. SpiceJet ordered 155 of the jets with an option for 50 more in a $22b deal with Boeing back in 2017, and has 13 of the aircraft in its fleet currently. While it’s unclear why the airline didn’t restart deliveries for close to a year after Indian regulators allowed the Max to fly again in August 2021 following two deadly crashes, people familiar said the relationship between the US planemaker and SpiceJet has soured. Any transaction that would see SpiceJet begin taking deliveries again would therefore potentially be good news for Boeing in India, given its only customers with orders are SpiceJet and startup Akasa, which isn’t flying yet. Clawing back market share is crucial to break Airbus SE’s stronghold, fortified by the nation’s top airline, IndiGo, being the biggest buyer of its best-selling A320neo jets. A representative for SpiceJet said the airline will receive new 737 Max jets based on “mutually agreed” timelines from Boeing.<br/>