Spirit Airlines stockholders have approved the merger agreement with JetBlue Airways. Based on the preliminary voting results provided by the independent inspector of election at the special meeting of stockholders held today (October 19, 2022), more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Spirit common stock voted in favour of the transaction.
Ted Christie, President and CEO of Spirit Airlines, said: "This is an important step forward on our path to closing a combination that will create the most compelling national low-fare challenger to the dominant US carriers. We look forward to continuing our ongoing discussions with regulators as we work toward completing the transaction and delivering value to team members, guests and stockholders."
The merger still needs to clear some pretty tough regulatory hurdles, with many commentators doubtful it will be approved by regulators. Spirit and JetBlue remain confident however and stated that they expect to conclude the regulatory process and close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024.
Barclays and Morgan Stanley are serving as financial advisors to Spirit, and Debevoise & Plimpton and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison are serving as legal advisors.