Alaska Air Group Inc. said Monday it plans to buy Virgin America Inc. for $57 a share in cash. The purchase, including debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, would value the transaction at $4 billion. The proposed merger has been approved by the boards of both companies. Alaska Air Group, which runs Alaska Airlines, expects to close the deal, with regulatory approval, by no later than Jan. 1 2017. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines would become the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S., Alaska Air said in a statement. The combination should add to Alaska Air’s adjusted per-share earnings in the first full year, excluding integration costs, and increase annual revenue by 27% to more than $7 billion, Alaska said.
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