Aimia accepts Air Canada’s sweetened $450m bid for Aeroplan

An Air Canada-led consortium has reached a deal to acquire Aimia’s Aeroplan loyalty program, easing customer concerns but raising questions around the price tag and what the deal augurs for Aimia’s future. The group, which includes TD Bank, CIBC and Visa Canada Corp., has agreed to pay $450m in cash and assume the approximately $1.9b liability associated with Aeroplan miles customers have accumulated. “We are pleased to see that an agreement in principle has been reached as Aeroplan members can continue to earn and redeem with confidence,” Air Canada CE Calin Rovinescu said Tuesday. The agreement comes weeks after Aimia rejected an earlier bid from the consortium of $250m in cash and the assumption of the reward point liability. Any deal between the consortium and Aimia, which had been seeking out new partners to offset the loss of Air Canada when a current agreement was set to end in 2020, would be the best outcome for all stakeholders, said GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry. “Overall, this deal provides continuity, visibility and minimal disruption as AC executes its strategy of bringing in-house its loyalty program.”<br/>