Sidley represented United Airlines Ventures in connection with the closing of United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight FundSM (SFF) with over US$200 million in capital commitments, as it added new partners Google, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Safran Corporate Ventures, Technip Energies, Aircastle (a Marubeni and Mizuho Leasing Company), HIS, and Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking. SFF is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle designed to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel by accelerating the research, production, and technologies associated with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). SFF launched in February 2023 and its prior close limited partners include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, American Express Global Business Travel, Aviation Capital Group, Boeing, Boston Consulting Group, GE Aerospace, Groupe ADP, Hawaiian Airlines, Honeywell, and JetBlue Ventures, among others. Through SFF, participants will invest alongside United in SAF technology and production start-ups identified by United.
The Sidley team was led by Kevin P. Lewis (Transportation), Benson R. Cohen and Brad Meissen (both Investment Funds), with support from Jacob Sitto (Investment Funds).
