Overall Deal of the Year: United Airlines $6.8bn Mileage Plus Programme

摘要

The United Airlines $6.8 billion Mileage Plus Programme transaction had all the ingredients to win the year's Overall Deal of the Year award. Covid-19 decimated the airline industry. United Airlines' revenue plummeted, creating a $1.6 billion second-quarter loss compared with a $1 billion profit in the 2019 corresponding quarter. With expenses of more than $40 million a day, the airline needed to raise cash. One source of untapped value for the airline was its frequent-flyer programme, which generates $5 billion in annual revenue through its co-branded credit cards and other commercial relationships. The first-of-its-kind transaction, pioneered by Mayer Brown, Milbank, Goldman Sachs and the United team, marked the first financing backed by a US airline loyalty programme, helping the US carrier to obtain cost-effective financing backed by its core asset.