Quelle Bloomberg:
-- Alaska Air Group Inc. agreed to buy rival
Hawaiian Holdings Inc. for $1.9 billion in cash and debt,
challenging the Biden administration’s aggressive stance on
mergers that has already derailed one partnership between
carriers.
Alaska will pay $18 per share in cash in a deal that
includes about $900 million of Hawaiian’s debt, according to a
statement Sunday. The offer — a significant premium to Hawaiian
Holdings’ $4.86 closing price on Friday — sent its stock surging
174% on Monday.
The deal could provide a valuable lifeline to Hawaiian,
whose stock has tumbled more than 52% this year. The company has
been hurt by the slow return of tourism between Asia and Hawaii
following the pandemic and a ramp up in growth in the Hawaii-to-
mainland US market by Southwest Airlines Co. Alaska Air Group
will be the parent holding company, with Alaska Airlines and
Hawaiian Airlines continuing to operate under their separate
brands.
Alaska is taking on the acquisition despite the Justice
Department filing a record number of challenges last year to
corporate combinations and a pending antitrust challenge to a
separate airline deal. A federal antitrust lawsuit over JetBlue
Airways Corp.’s $3.8 billion cash takeover of Spirit Airlines
Inc. is nearing a close.
“We believe the facts will prevail that this is pro-
competitive and pro-consumers,” Alaska Chief Financial Officer
Shane Tackett said in an interview. Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines
overlap on 12 routes, or 3% of their total seats, he said. “They
are very complementary businesses.”
Federal regulators earlier this year succeeded in breaking
up an alliance in the northeastern US between JetBlue and
American Airlines Group Inc., after a federal judge found the
partnership gave the carriers too much power in certain markets
and harmed consumers by raising fares and limiting choices.
The deal could “improve fares, though increase complexity
by adding long-haul operations from Hawaii to US cities and into
Asia,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts George Ferguson and
Francois Duflot wrote in a note. “Overlap appears to be limited,
which improves odds of approval.”
Hawaiian Holdings shares jumped to $13.27 in premarket US
trading on Monday, still well short of Alaska’s offer. As of
Friday, Hawaiian had an equity market value of $250.9 million.
The $1.9 billion total price is “very manageable”
financially, Tackett said. “We feel very good about the price.
We are getting a market leadership position in a really
attractive premium market in Hawaiian,” he added.
The company will hold more than 50% of the Hawaiian market,
which has annual revenue of $8 billion, he said, a large part of
what convinced Alaska to approach Hawaiian leadership about a
combination earlier this year.
“We don’t believe this was an imperative for our business,”
Tackett said. “What we saw was an opportunity to gain a second
hub in Honolulu” that ultimately could approach Seattle in
annual revenue production.
It’s not Alaska’s first experience with an acquisition. The
carrier outbid JetBlue to acquire Virgin America Inc. in 2016
for $2.6 billion in cash to extend a stretch of consolidation
that had occurred across the industry. Current Alaska Chief
Executive Officer Ben Minicucci oversaw Virgin America’s
operations while the two carriers combined, helping to prepare
him for the latest effort. The almost 20-year Alaska veteran was
named CEO in 2021.
The former member of the Canadian Armed Forces practices
transcendental meditation twice daily, according to a profile at
that time, and said Hawaii was his favorite destination.
The combination with Hawaiian will add to Alaska’s earnings
within two years of closing and will produce annual run-rate
savings of $235 million, according to the statement.
The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both
airlines and still requires approval from Hawaiian Holdings
shareholders and regulators. It’s expected to close in 12 to 18
months, the carriers said.