AirTran Bought by Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines announced a plan to acquire AirTran Holdings Monday and traders are loving the deal, sending shares higher as opposed to the typical wing-clipping suffered by acquirers.

Southwest will acquire AirTran for about $1.4 billion in the aggregate including outstanding convertible notes from AirTran. The acquisition is approximately $3.4 billion taking into account AirTran’s indebtedness and capitalized aircraft operating leases.

Southwest’s stock is up more than 4% Monday morning.
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