JetBlue bids for Spirit Airlines
05-11-2022, 11:10 AM
#851
The REAL Bluedriver
Joined APC: Sep 2011
Position: Airbus Capt
Posts: 6,905
You think Robin/JetBlue are committed to buying Spirit still? They’ve been silent since Spirit said they’re going with Frontier. I have a feeling they’ll maintain that silence all the way until NK/F9 is official. There’s nothing to gain by him saying, oh darn we let Spirit slip away.
If you wordsmith the press release making public the letter JB sent to the Spirit board before their final decision, you can clearly see JB also taking the opinion that the refusal of Spirit management to fully engage was based on something less than above board.
With the dramatic decline in the value of both Spirit airlines stock and that of F9, which tremendously devalues the F9 offer to Spirit shareholders, it is even more conceivable than ever that a hostile or otherwise behind the scenes maneuver with large institutional shareholders of NK could be underway. It was made clear that JB has been pursuing NK for several years, that they have been frustrated by Spirit's refusal to engage, and that few good options remain for JB to quickly gain scale without NK. All of this makes an attempted hostile transaction more likely than less likely.
If any company intends to conduct such a maneuver in the background, it only ever makes sense to do that as quietly as possible. To make any public rumblings of such activity would create a feeding frenzy on NK stock and serve to increase the value (purchase price) of the company you are trying to aquire.
If anything is in fact happening, I would guess quiet phone calls to the heads of large institutional shareholders making a quiet offer to aquire their shares or their votes for a preset price. It's true there are reporting requirements AFTER a company aquires more than 10% ownership in a company, but not before that has taken place...
It's an interesting time, and will be interesting to watch.
05-11-2022, 12:17 PM
#852
Line Holder
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 32
None of us know what is or is not happening behind the scenes. It was clear by Spirit's infographic that their decision was not simply course of business, but personal and emotional.
If you wordsmith the press release making public the letter JB sent to the Spirit board before their final decision, you can clearly see JB also taking the opinion that the refusal of Spirit management to fully engage was based on something less than above board.
With the dramatic decline in the value of both Spirit airlines stock and that of F9, which tremendously devalues the F9 offer to Spirit shareholders, it is even more conceivable than ever that a hostile or otherwise behind the scenes maneuver with large institutional shareholders of NK could be underway. It was made clear that JB has been pursuing NK for several years, that they have been frustrated by Spirit's refusal to engage, and that few good options remain for JB to quickly gain scale without NK. All of this makes an attempted hostile transaction more likely than less likely.
If any company intends to conduct such a maneuver in the background, it only ever makes sense to do that as quietly as possible. To make any public rumblings of such activity would create a feeding frenzy on NK stock and serve to increase the value (purchase price) of the company you are trying to aquire.
If anything is in fact happening, I would guess quiet phone calls to the heads of large institutional shareholders making a quiet offer to aquire their shares or their votes for a preset price. It's true there are reporting requirements AFTER a company aquires more than 10% ownership in a company, but not before that has taken place...
It's an interesting time, and will be interesting to watch.
If you wordsmith the press release making public the letter JB sent to the Spirit board before their final decision, you can clearly see JB also taking the opinion that the refusal of Spirit management to fully engage was based on something less than above board.
With the dramatic decline in the value of both Spirit airlines stock and that of F9, which tremendously devalues the F9 offer to Spirit shareholders, it is even more conceivable than ever that a hostile or otherwise behind the scenes maneuver with large institutional shareholders of NK could be underway. It was made clear that JB has been pursuing NK for several years, that they have been frustrated by Spirit's refusal to engage, and that few good options remain for JB to quickly gain scale without NK. All of this makes an attempted hostile transaction more likely than less likely.
If any company intends to conduct such a maneuver in the background, it only ever makes sense to do that as quietly as possible. To make any public rumblings of such activity would create a feeding frenzy on NK stock and serve to increase the value (purchase price) of the company you are trying to aquire.
If anything is in fact happening, I would guess quiet phone calls to the heads of large institutional shareholders making a quiet offer to aquire their shares or their votes for a preset price. It's true there are reporting requirements AFTER a company aquires more than 10% ownership in a company, but not before that has taken place...
It's an interesting time, and will be interesting to watch.
05-11-2022, 12:21 PM
#853
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2012
Position: 190 captain and “Pro-pilot”
Posts: 2,920
You think Robin/JetBlue are committed to buying Spirit still? They’ve been silent since Spirit said they’re going with Frontier. I have a feeling they’ll maintain that silence all the way until NK/F9 is official. There’s nothing to gain by him saying, oh darn we let Spirit slip away.
It is the quiet part that makes me think there is stuff going on.
05-11-2022, 12:41 PM
#854
The REAL Bluedriver
Joined APC: Sep 2011
Position: Airbus Capt
Posts: 6,905
Looking at who those large institutional shareholders are it might be a tough sell. Basically they’re the same for each company. Those shareholders aren’t in the short game side of investing. At the price of JetBlue and Spirit right now that old man Franke might just be like “F” it I’m gonna buy JetBlue too! Ha.
05-11-2022, 12:52 PM
#855
Line Holder
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 32
Don’t underestimate indigo and Franke. That dude probably has buried treasures from the ancient world he’s so old. Also crazy rich.
05-11-2022, 04:52 PM
#856
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Posts: 684
When was the last time that a shareholders vote killed a merger that was orchestrated by a BoD? Does anyone here know the nuts and bolts of how these meetings and votes actually, in a practical sense, are conducted and worked out? Is there any chance that the Spirit BoD did or didn’t already consult with all of the major institutional shareholders?
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
05-11-2022, 05:24 PM
#857
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2006
Position: guppy CA
Posts: 5,171
When was the last time that a shareholders vote killed a merger that was orchestrated by a BoD? Does anyone here know the nuts and bolts of how these meetings and votes actually, in a practical sense, are conducted and worked out? Is there any chance that the Spirit BoD did or didn’t already consult with all of the major institutional shareholders?
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
How many times does the BOD turn down a higher merger offer? That's a new one on me.
As for the merger vote, individual shareholders don't really matter that much. It's going to be the institutional shareholders that make a difference, as they own a large chunk of any company.
Here's NK's top institutional breakdown: https://money.cnn.com/quote/sharehol...=institutional
I would expect NK's BOD to have talked to institutional investors prior to turning down B6's offer. But that would have been when F9's offer was around $26/share when converting F9's share price. Now, with the market freefall, F9's offer is less than $20/share ($18.64/sh as of today's market close) and the merger vote is a month away (June 10) ... if F9's share price continues to fall, that should have institutional investors reexamine the B6 offer of $33/sh cash vs the F9 offer.
I don't know much, but I do know that 33 is considerably more than 18.64.
05-11-2022, 05:25 PM
#858
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2019
Posts: 1,190
When was the last time that a shareholders vote killed a merger that was orchestrated by a BoD? Does anyone here know the nuts and bolts of how these meetings and votes actually, in a practical sense, are conducted and worked out? Is there any chance that the Spirit BoD did or didn’t already consult with all of the major institutional shareholders?
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
05-11-2022, 06:01 PM
#859
The REAL Bluedriver
Joined APC: Sep 2011
Position: Airbus Capt
Posts: 6,905
When was the last time that a shareholders vote killed a merger that was orchestrated by a BoD? Does anyone here know the nuts and bolts of how these meetings and votes actually, in a practical sense, are conducted and worked out? Is there any chance that the Spirit BoD did or didn’t already consult with all of the major institutional shareholders?
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
There are lots of accusations flying around about people being “naive” and such, but are those who are making these accusations really so knowledgeable about what happens behind the scenes in modern-day corporate America? Lots and lots of examples on the board of stereotypical ego-trip airline pilots who are way out over their skis on a topic that they don’t actually know sh!t about.
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