Another vote delay leaves Spirit’s merger with Frontier in question while JetBlue circles

The fate of Spirit Airlines’ merger with fellow budget carrier Frontier Airlines is growing murkier. Spirit this week delayed its shareholder meeting for a third time, opening the door to more talks from both Frontier and rival suitor JetBlue Airways. The latter two delays each came just hours before Spirit shareholders were due to vote on the Frontier tie-up, a now $2.6b cash-and-stock combination after Frontier recently sweetened the offer in an effort to ward off JetBlue’s advances. JetBlue is offering about $3.7b in an all-cash takeover. Ahead of the most recently scheduled vote, which was slated for Friday morning, it didn’t appear Spirit had enough votes to get the Frontier deal approved, according to people familiar with the matter. Spirit would be on the hook to pay Frontier a break-up fee of more than $94m if it deems JetBlue’s offer superior and scraps its original deal. “We’re working hard to bring this process to a conclusion while remaining focused on the well-being of our Spirit Family,” Spirit CEO Ted Christie said in a note to employees late Thursday after the vote was postponed yet again. Spirit declined to comment further on Friday. JetBlue, for its part, cheered the delay. CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement late Thursday: “We are encouraged by our discussions with Spirit and are hopeful they now recognize that Spirit shareholders have indicated their clear, overwhelming preference for an agreement with JetBlue.” Neither JetBlue nor Frontier offered further comment on Friday.<br/>