AP – Spirit Airlines, the target of a budget airline bidding war, is postponing a shareholder vote on whether to accept one of those buyout offers after a flurry of counter proposals from Frontier Airlines and JetBlue Airways.
Spirit said on Wednesday that it rescheduled the vote on its preferred offer, from Frontier, until June 30, giving its board another three weeks to speak with Frontier, JetBlue, and its own shareholders.
The decision to postpone the vote comes two days after JetBlue improved its offer.
JetBlue said on Wednesday that it welcomed the delay “as a necessary first step toward genuine negotiations between the Spirit Board and JetBlue”.
Frontier did not comment immediately. JetBlue has offered more in cash than Colorado-based Frontier’s stock and cash bid, but Spirit’s board has rebuffed JetBlue, saying that any such tie-up would face a greater likelihood of being shot down by antitrust regulators.
