Airline investors have reason to grab the barf bag

Hawaiian Holdings

04/12/2023 17:54

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Jonathan Guilford
       NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alaska Air’s
$1.9 bln buy of Hawaiian could reap big benefits, yet tanked the
buyer’s shares by 15%. A deal only works if it survives hostile
trustbusters and doesn’t wreck Alaska’s balance sheet. Until
turbulence clears, shareholders are right to distrust the
captain’s promises.
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    CONTEXT NEWS
Alaska Air said on Dec. 3 that it had agreed to acquire rival
airline Hawaiian for $1.9 billion including debt. The deal comes
as a lawsuit by the Department of Justice looking to block the
merger of Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways heads to closing
arguments on Dec. 5.
  

 (Editing by Lauren Silva Laughlin and Sharon Lam)
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