Mayer Brown advised on a transaction recognized as the “Deal of the Year” in the Airfinance Journal Awards 2020. The winning transaction is:
Overall Deal of the year: United Airlines | Mileage Plus Programme | 07-20 | $6.8bn
Mayer Brown advised Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC, as sole structuring agent and lead left arranger and bookrunner, and Goldman Sachs Bank, as administrative agent, on a first-of-its-kind $6.8 billion financing consisting of $3.8 billion of senior secured high yield bonds and $3 billion of senior secured institutional term loans to United Airline's loyalty program, MileagePlus. The innovative transaction involved the contribution of intellectual property of the MileagePlus program to a newly formed subsidiary that was structured to be bankruptcy remote and involved a covenant structure that is a hybrid between a securitization and a corporate debt issuance.
The team was led by: Banking & Finance – partner Gabriela Sakamoto (DC), partners Stuart Litwin, Jan Stewart and Beth Vogel and counsel Jennifer Bruni (all Chicago), and partner Adam Wolk (NY); Restructuring – partner Sean Scott and counsel Richard Ziegler; Corporate & Securities – partner John Berkery (NY); Tax Transactions & Consulting – partner Michael Lebovitz (LA); and IP – partner Erick Palmer (Chicago).
The Airfinance Journal Awards recognize the most innovative transactions, teams and individuals in aviation finance. To read more about the awards, please visit the website.
Overall Deal of the year: United Airlines | Mileage Plus Programme | 07-20 | $6.8bn
Mayer Brown advised Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC, as sole structuring agent and lead left arranger and bookrunner, and Goldman Sachs Bank, as administrative agent, on a first-of-its-kind $6.8 billion financing consisting of $3.8 billion of senior secured high yield bonds and $3 billion of senior secured institutional term loans to United Airline's loyalty program, MileagePlus. The innovative transaction involved the contribution of intellectual property of the MileagePlus program to a newly formed subsidiary that was structured to be bankruptcy remote and involved a covenant structure that is a hybrid between a securitization and a corporate debt issuance.
The team was led by: Banking & Finance – partner Gabriela Sakamoto (DC), partners Stuart Litwin, Jan Stewart and Beth Vogel and counsel Jennifer Bruni (all Chicago), and partner Adam Wolk (NY); Restructuring – partner Sean Scott and counsel Richard Ziegler; Corporate & Securities – partner John Berkery (NY); Tax Transactions & Consulting – partner Michael Lebovitz (LA); and IP – partner Erick Palmer (Chicago).
The Airfinance Journal Awards recognize the most innovative transactions, teams and individuals in aviation finance. To read more about the awards, please visit the website.
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