Here's what's next for Spirit after its blocked merger deal with JetBlue

Ines Ferré
·Senior Business Reporter
Updated 2 min read
36
In this article:

Spirit Airlines' (SAVE) $3.8 billion sale to JetBlue (JBLU) isn't dead yet.

The carriers said Friday that they will appeal a ruling by a federal judge earlier this week that blocked the deal on antitrust grounds. The development had raised questions about what's next for the carriers — particularly Spirit, whose clock is ticking with $1.1 billion in debt due in September 2025.

It's been a rocky week for Spirit's stock, which has fallen more than 50% since Tuesday's court decision. And the potential outcomes for the low-cost carrier range from bankruptcy to a combination with a different competitor, analysts say.

Prior to Friday's session the airline said it was "assessing options to refinance its 2025 debt maturities" and raised its operating margin guidance by 450 basis points for the fourth quarter. The airline also stated it had $1.3 billion of liquidity as of Dec. 31.

"We think a Chapter 11 filing is more likely than unlikely," TD Cowen senior research analyst Helane Becker told Yahoo Finance earlier this week.

Becker said if the airline is unable to lower its aircraft lease costs and the company is forced to liquidate, JetBlue could acquire some of the assets.

"For JetBlue, we think this is actually not a bad outcome because we think they'll be able to get those assets in a liquidation of Spirit," she said.

Frontier had made a bid for Spirit almost two years ago but was later squeezed out when JetBlue stepped in with an all-cash $3.8 billion offer.

If Frontier were to emerge as a buyer again, Susquehanna analyst Christopher Stathoulopoulos says the airline would have a better shot at obtaining regulatory approval than JetBlue did.

Spirit stock has dropped roughly 60% since Tuesday when a federal judge blocked its merger with JetBlue. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Spirit stock has dropped roughly 60% since Tuesday when a federal judge blocked its merger with JetBlue. (Charles Krupa/AP Photo, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

"While the operating landscape for US airlines is clearly different today ... a merger of two ultra-low-cost carriers could (in theory) have a less onerous regulatory approval process," the analyst wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Several analysts downgraded Spirit stock this week amid concerns over the company's ability to turn itself around.

The airline's market cap, which hovered at $6 billion in 2014, was sitting just above $760 million on Friday.

"We believe SAVE has a difficult path ahead to return to its historical level of growth and profitability," Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora said earlier this week.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.

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