Frontier Airlines, in a move crafted to deflect JetBlue Airways’ bid for South Florida-based Spirit Airlines, has added a $250 million reverse breakup fee to its merger proposal.
“The combination of a higher reverse termination fee and a much greater likelihood to close in a Frontier merger provides substantially more regulatory protection for Spirit stockholders than the transaction proposed by JetBlue,” said Mac Gardner, the Spirit chairman, in a joint news release with Frontier. The release was issued after the financial markets closed Thursday evening.
A reverse breakup fee refers to the amount of money paid to a targeted company if the would-be acquirer backs out of a proposed deal.
