ExpressJet Rejects SkyWest’s $3.50/share Offer
Apr 25th, 2008 | By Jared BlankExpressJet, which used to fly for Continental as a regional partner before an ill-fated venture as a freestanding carrier, rejected an unsolicited offer from SkyWest to be purchased for $3.50 (in case you were wondering, and you weren’t, SkyWest joins Allegiant and US Airways as the three airlines I think have the most underrated management teams.) In its press release ExpressJet says that it is exploring other options including:
– Talking to Continental about working with them again (hahahahahaha)
– Finding another interested party (hahahahahahaha. Perhaps Mesa would’ve been interested before their absolutely unbelievable freefall over the past year or two).
– Asking SkyWest for more money (bingo!)
It appears that ExpressJet has two options: hope that SkyWest offers a few pennies more, or accept SkyWest’s current offer. Or shut down. Their call.
XJet still flies the vast majority of CO’s Express operations and they also fly a number of Express flights for Delta out of LAX.
Their real issue is that CO didn’t renew the contract for some part of the CO Express flights, leaving XJet with a bunch of planes they needed to do something with. They tried independent ops and that went about as well as it did for Fly-I. When they have to shut down those ops CO is going to be on the hook since the planes are leased from them. Xjet shutting down could have a much wider impact than just losing a bit player in the LCC space.
Great points, Seth. I think the outcome then remains the same: either SkyWest picks them up for $3.50 a share, or XJet goes out of business and SkyWest picks up the CO Express routes…