💥That's the Spirit!💥
Plus: True Value Company LLC, Big Lots Inc., Avante Health Solutions, Gritsone bio Inc., and Pottsville Operations LLC.
As the world awaits the upcoming US election and the bankruptcy world awaits a possible bankruptcy filing from TGI Fridays Spirit Airlines Inc. ($SAVE)(“Spirit”), we’re left with a bunch of uncompelling chapter 11s. Don’t worry, though, y’all: we do our best to make them compelling below (though … another SNF, 🥱).
But first, what of Spirit?
Saying Spirit Airlines Inc. ($SAVE) is “One to Watch” is like saying the new Joker: Folie à Deux movie is a strong contender for a Golden Raspberry.
There’s been enough writing on the proverbial wall already:
But it’s time for us to add our 2¢.
We’re sure you’re all familiar with Spirit Airlines already. In fact, we’re sure some of you have actually had the displeasure of flying with them.
Forget peanuts, you don’t even get water on Spirit flights….
You’ll recall that JetBlue Airways Corp ($JBLU) tried to acquire the ultra low cost carrier (“ULCC”) all the way back in ‘22. The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) got involved and sued due to anti-trust concerns.* A federal judge ended up ruling against the merger in a January ‘24 decision and the two parties ended up abandoning the merger plans in March ‘24. The DOJ celebrated their victory:
Leading to this…
Now that Spirit is on the verge of bankruptcy, most people are considering that “victory” to be a lot more pyrrhic in hindsight.
Okay but how did we get here?