Spirit Airlines announced on Tuesday night that it had rejected Frontier Group's revised acquisition offer, worth an estimated $2.16 billion.

According to CBSNews.com, Frontier's latest offer included Spirit shareholders getting $400 million in debt and a 19 percent stake in the low-cost carrier, which was similar to the first proposal sent earlier this month.

The difference with the latest offer was that Frontier dropped a requirement that Spirit would need to complete a $350 million equity rights offering. In addition, the proposal would have required Spirit to waive the bankruptcy court-approved $35 million termination fee.

¡°We remain convinced that the combination of Spirit and Frontier would have created more value than Spirit's standalone plan,¡± a Frontier spokesperson said in a statement.

In response, officials from Spirit said the revised proposal did not address several major issues the airline had with the first offer. The low-cost carrier filed for bankruptcy protection last year and expects to complete its restructuring in the first quarter.

Spirit sent a counteroffer to Frontier, asking for $600 million in debt and $1.185 billion in equity, a deal that Frontier rejected.

Spirit and Frontier have been negotiating a possible merger since 2022, but a lack of an agreement and an offer from JetBlue Airways that was shut down by the United States government have stopped any momentum.

---

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore