Visa Canada Corporation (“Visa Canada”) provided financial support to Air Canada (TSX: AC) together with The Toronto-Dominion Bank (“TD”) (TSX: TD) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (“CIBC”) (TSX: CM) in connection with Air Canada’s acquisition of Aimia Canada Inc. (“Aimia”) (TSX: AIM), owner and operator of the Aeroplan loyalty business. Air Canada completed the acquisition on January 10, 2019 for a purchase price of $497 million, a 10% increase from the previously agreed upon sum of $450 million, which includes the assumption of approximately $1.9 billion of Aeroplan Miles liability. Visa Canada also entered long-term agreements with TD and CIBC to continue as network partner for credit cards issued under Air Canada’s new loyalty program.
Miller Thomson advised Visa Canada with respect to this acquisition with a team consisting of Jay Hoffman, Jeffrey Roode, Phil Long, Eric Kleine and Victoria de Luna (Corporate, M&A and Securities), Eric Dufour (Competition), Ron Choudhury, Andrew Etcovitch and Colleen Ma (Corporate Tax) and John Chapman (Litigation).
