Manatt Antitrust and Competition Partner Dylan Carson was quoted in The Deal on JetBlue terminating its proposed acquisition of Spirit and subsequently negotiating a decreased breakup fee.
The article explained that both actions shortly followed the buyer’s settling with investor Carl Icahn. “There appears to be some correlation between Icahn’s involvement and the canceled deal,” said Carson. “The timeline indicates that his [Icahn's] executives came in, read the appellate record and may not have been optimistic about the deal's [regulatory] chances, so they focused on renegotiating the breakup fee down.” Carson added that with the termination, Spirit may seek another merger partner.
The Deal subscribers can read the full article here.