Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. (ASPL) Shareholders Approve Wheels Up Deal

Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp.  (NYSE:ASPL) announced in a press release followed by an 8-K filing today that its shareholders approved its combination with private aircraft provider Wheels Up in a meeting earlier this morning.

Approximately 93.6% of the votes cast, representing approximately 63.3% of holders of Aspirational’s outstanding shares, approved the proposed business combination.

The 8-K filing showed Aspirational’s shareholders elected to redeem an aggregate of 13,366,429 ASPL Class A ordinary shares, which falls below the minimum cash amount needed for the deal by approximately $13.87 million or by 2%. As part of the original conditions to closing, Aspirational’s trust amount needed to be equal to or greater than $120,000,000, and their trust was currently estimated to hold $239.88 million.  In an attempt to remedy this shortfall, Wheels Up agreed to waive the condition in order to allow the deal to close.

The transaction is expected to close on July 13, and the combined entity will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “UP” and “UP.WS”, respectively.

ASPL soared 10% when the parties initially announced the $2.1 billion deal on February 1. Wheels Up provides a marketplace for booking private plane flights with about 1,500 planes on its platform including third-party and managed aircraft.

The company announced several new partnerships ahead of going public, including a collaboration with Porsche Cars North America and American Express.

The transaction is intended to provide growth capital for Wheels Up, and help the company sustain itself and be opportunistic at a time when much of the aviation industry is starting to gain popularity again following COVID. Aspirational Chairman and CEO Ravi Thakran is expected the join Wheels Up’s post-transaction Board.

ADVISORS

• Connaught acted as financial advisor to Aspirational.
• Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor, placement agent and capital markets advisor to Aspirational.
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisor to Aspirational.
• Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Jefferies LLC, and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as joint lead financial advisors to Wheels Up.
• Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP acted as legal advisor to Wheels Up.