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Wheels Up Announces Fleet Modernization Strategy and Associated Transactions

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Wheels Up to transition its current jet fleets to Phenom 300 Series and Challenger 300 Series aircraft

Entered into agreement to acquire GrandView Aviation’s entire fleet of 17 Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft

Entered into agreement to sell entire owned fleet of super mid Citation X aircraft and lease for a limited period in preparation for transition to Challenger fleet

New fleet to be outfitted with best-in-class Gogo Galileo HDX satellite-based WiFi

Committed financing to be provided by Bank of America, with credit support from Delta Air Lines

ATLANTA, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE: UP) today announced a series of major aircraft, commercial and financing transactions that lay the foundation for the company’s fleet modernization strategy. Upon closing, the transactions will initiate the transition of Wheels Up’s four existing jet aircraft types to two of the most preferred and successful aircraft types in the industry – Embraer’s Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft and Bombardier’s Challenger 300 and Challenger 350 aircraft.

Once complete, the transition of Wheels Up’s jet aircraft to the highly reliable Phenom 300 series and Challenger 300 series models is expected to lower the average aircraft age of its fleet by approximately 10 years – a fleet transition with wide-reaching operational implications, including expected improvement in operational performance, operational efficiency and, in turn, an enhanced customer experience.

The company intends to continue to operate in support of its customers a fleet of King Air aircraft within its existing service areas.

“Fleet modernization is the next critical step in the journey of Wheels Up. We believe our flexible, accessible offerings across programmatic membership and global charter, enhanced through our one-of-a-kind strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines, already deliver the most customer-centric global aviation solutions available in the market today” said George Mattson, CEO of Wheels Up. “We believe our fleet modernization strategy and the enabling transactions we are announcing today will allow us to deliver those solutions with a best-in-class aircraft fleet, with an elevated customer experience to match.”

Wheels Up to Acquire GrandView Aviation’s Phenom Fleet
Wheels Up has entered into a binding agreement to acquire the entire Phenom fleet of GrandView Aviation, a subsidiary of Global Medical Response. The agreement provides for the acquisition of their entire fleet of 17 Embraer Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft and certain related maintenance assets to support the fleet, at a purchase price of $105 million, subject to certain adjustments. Under the terms of the agreement, Wheels Up expects to assume GrandView’s existing customer programs and retain most of the existing pilot group, integrating them into the existing Wheels Up pilot workforce. 

Wheels Up and GrandView also expect to enter into a short-term Transition Services Agreement at closing, under which GrandView will operate the Embraer Phenom aircraft on Wheels Up’s behalf while the aircraft are transitioned to the company’s Wheels Up Private Jets FAA operating certificate.

The company anticipates that the GrandView acquisition will close as promptly as practicable this quarter and expects thereafter to immediately introduce the Phenom fleet into its programmatic membership and charter offerings.

Wheels Up intends to grow its fleet of Phenom series aircraft by opportunistically acquiring or leasing additional aircraft in the secondary market and expects to complete the fleet transition and retire its existing fleet of light and mid-sized jet aircraft within approximately three years, subject to business and market conditions.

Wheels Up to Introduce Bombardier Challenger Aircraft
In the super mid category, Wheels Up intends to opportunistically acquire a fleet of pre-owned Challenger 300 and Challenger 350 aircraft via the secondary market through a combination of outright purchases and long-term leasing.

In preparation for this transition, Wheels Up has agreed to sell all 13 of its currently owned Citation X aircraft to an unrelated third party. The company expects to lease a portion of those sold aircraft and amend the lease terms for other Citation X aircraft that are currently leased from that same buyer. This agreement also provides the ability to replace leased aircraft with Challenger aircraft in the future.

The Bombardier Challenger 300 Series aircraft are expected to be introduced into Wheels Up’s fleet beginning next year, with availability on both an as-requested charter basis and on specified routes for members. A full introduction into Wheels Up’s programmatic offering across guaranteed service areas is expected by the end of 2025.

Consistent with the timing of the Phenom transition plan, and subject to business and market conditions, Wheels Up expects to complete the transition to the Challenger platform within approximately three years.

An Enhanced Customer Experience with Gogo
As a key strategic step in enhancing the customer experience, Wheels Up has entered into a letter of intent with Gogo Business Aviation to equip the Phenom and Challenger aircraft Wheels Up expects to acquire with the enhanced capabilities and superior performance of Gogo Galileo HDX satellite-based WiFi. Gogo’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite system is expected to deliver high bandwidth, low latency, global coverage and be capable of live streaming and voice telephony.

“We believe that providing best-in-class connectivity while in the air is a core element of the customer promise and the customer experience”, said George Mattson, Wheels Up CEO. “We anticipate that we will be one of the first and only domestic fleets of private aviation aircraft equipped with this level of capability and, like our partner Delta in the commercial aviation space, want to provide the highest level of connectivity and performance that available technology delivers.”

As part of the agreement, Gogo has committed to complete certification for the Gogo Galileo HDX system and plans to have HDX certification on the Challenger and Phenom platforms by the middle of 2025, with transition for Wheels Up’s updated fleet planned to begin immediately thereafter. 

Committed Financing to be Provided by Bank of America with Credit Support from Delta Air Lines
Wheels Up has entered into a commitment letter with Bank of America for a new, five-year, up to $332 million senior secured revolving credit facility. The company anticipates that the revolving facility will close concurrently with the closing of the GrandView acquisition in the fourth quarter.

Wheels Up expects to utilize the revolving facility to fund several actions, including the GrandView acquisition; the redemption of all outstanding equipment notes on the company’s owned aircraft; and general corporate purposes. The financing is also expected to deliver up to $115 million of additional cash to the balance sheet of Wheels Up and provides future revolving borrowing availability under certain conditions, with which Wheels Up expects to opportunistically acquire additional Phenom and Challenger aircraft in the future as it completes its fleet modernization plan.

Delta Air Lines is expected to provide credit support for the new financing, enhancing Wheels Up’s access to capital and on more attractive terms than would otherwise be available.

“In the year since we’ve invested in Wheels Up, their operational performance, financial progress and the successful revamp of their customer offering have validated our decision to embark on this one-of-a-kind strategic partnership,” said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines. “Underpinned by those key improvements and further fueled by the forthcoming execution of this modernized fleet strategy, we feel more confident than ever that Wheels Up is on the right track to be a global leader in private aviation, as we work together to build an unrivaled partnership spanning across commercial and private travel.” 

Future Fleet Enhancements
Wheels Up is also in discussions with Bombardier, Embraer and other third-party providers on additional elements of its product offering and customer experience, including standardized livery and interiors. Updates are expected in the coming months.

Concurrently with this announcement, the company is filing a current report on Form 8-K with the SEC related to the GrandView acquisition and commitment for the revolving facility.

About Wheels Up
Wheels Up is a leading provider of on-demand private aviation in the U.S. and one of the largest companies in the industry. Wheels Up offers a complete global aviation solution with a large and diverse fleet and a global network of safety vetted charter operators, all backed by an uncompromising commitment to safety and service. Customers can access charter and membership programs, as well as unique commercial travel benefits through a one-of-a-kind, strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines. Wheels Up also offers freight, safety and security solutions and managed services to individuals, industry, government and civil organizations. 

Wheels Up is guided by the mission to deliver a premium solution for every customer journey. With the Wheels Up mobile app and website, members and customers have the digital convenience to search, book and fly.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside of the control of Wheels Up Experience Inc. (the “Company”, “Wheels Up”, “our”, “us” or “we”). These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: (i) the acquisition of 17 Embraer Phenom 300 and Phenom 300E aircraft and certain related maintenance assets to support the fleet, and existing customer program from GrandView Aviation LLC (the “GrandView Acquisition”), and any expected benefits or impacts to the Company as a result of the GrandView Acquisition or operation of the assets acquired as part of the GrandView Acquisition after closing, including the Company’s ability to consummate the closing of such acquisition on the schedule that it currently anticipates; (ii) the commitment letter entered into between Wheels Up and Bank of America, N.A. and the up to $332 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Facility”) contemplated thereby, including the expected terms of the Revolving Facility, the ability to use net proceeds from the Revolving Facility to fund the GrandView Acquisition, the refinancing of the Company’s existing equipment notes, the potential receipt and expected use of any remaining net proceeds from the initial closing under the Revolving Facility (including the potential future acquisition of aircraft using such net proceeds, assumptions regarding the consummation of aircraft sales currently under contract and other factors that may impact the amount of remaining net cash proceeds expected to be delivered to Wheels Up from such initial closing), the ability of the Company to reborrow under the Revolving Facility in the future, and the ability of the Company to consummate such financing on the terms and timeline that it currently anticipates; and (iii) the Company’s fleet modernization strategy described herein and the ability of the Company to execute such strategy, as well as the expected operational and financial impacts to the Company from implementing such strategy on the timeline that it currently anticipates. The words “anticipate,” “continue,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “would,” “pursue” and similar expressions, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that statement is not forward-looking. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 7, 2024 and the Company’s other filings with the SEC from time to time. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

For more information, please visit: wheelsup.com

Media Contact
press@wheelsup.com

Investor Contact
ir@wheelsup.com

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SOURCE Wheels Up

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Hilco Global Engaged by Stan Lee Holdings to Sell Rare & Valuable Intellectual Property Portfolio

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July 24, 2026

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NEW YORK, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hilco Global, a diversified financial services company that delivers expert professional services and capital solutions to help clients maximize value and drive performance across the business lifecycle, is pleased to announce that its IP Services practice has been engaged by Stan Lee Holdings, Ltd. (“SLH”) to sell a legendary portfolio of intellectual property developed by Stan Lee, the iconic “father of the super hero.” Known as the Omniverse Collection created by Stan Lee, the portfolio represents a treasure trove of original characters and source material developed by Stan when he was leading Marvel Comics and when he built Stan Lee Entertainment – the first super hero animation studio created for the Internet age. This rare and valuable collection of Intellectual Property encompasses dozens of compelling super heroes and stories conceived by Stan from 1999 to 2001 as well as a franchise comprising over 50 well-known characters – the only franchise of Marvel-created characters not owned by Marvel. Full details of the collection, including the individual characters, franchises, and story properties it comprises, will be released in the coming weeks.

Through this collaboration, Hilco Global will work alongside SLH and former EVP of Marvel Entertainment Shirrel Rhoades to find a new home for a body of largely underleveraged super hero and other characters, as well as world-building intellectual property. Numerous supporting  scripts, episodes, and development materials spanning Stan Lee’s career are also part of the offering.

“The Omniverse Collection created by Stan Lee is one of the most significant super hero IP offerings of the decade,” said Eric Hurwitz, Senior Director of the Hilco Global IP Services practice. “This large, diverse portfolio presents the opportunity to capitalize on untapped material with an unmatched pedigree. A buyer essentially has a blank slate to bring these characters to fans worldwide and expand on Stan Lee’s legacy. Hilco Global is thrilled to bring these assets to market, leveraging deep experience across intellectual property and media valuation, licensing, and transaction execution.”

Among the intellectual property being offered is a hidden gem; a connected entertainment universe of Stan Lee’s own creation. “This one-of-a-kind IP collection illustrates just how far ahead Stan was in understanding the future of entertainment,” observed Shirrel Rhoades, who was handpicked by Stan Lee to succeed him as publisher of Marvel. “What we’re bringing to market isn’t a collection of isolated ideas. It’s pieces of one larger vision, a living digital universe in which characters can be created, experienced, and expanded across every form of media.”

Parties can reach out to Ehurwitz@hilcoglobal.com to register interest. More information about the offering, the individual properties within the collection, and the sale process will become available soon.

About Hilco Global:  Hilco Global, a subsidiary of ORIX Corporation USA, is a diversified financial services company that delivers integrated professional services and capital solutions that help clients maximize value and drive performance across the retail, commercial and industrial, real estate, manufacturing, and intellectual property sectors. Hilco Global provides a range of customized solutions to healthy, stressed, and distressed companies to resolve complex situations and enhance long-term enterprise value. Hilco Global works to deliver the best possible result by aligning interests with clients and providing strategic advice and, in many instances, the capital required to transact. Hilco Global is based in Northbrook, Illinois and has more than 810 professionals operating on four continents. Visit www.hilcoglobal.com

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SOURCE Hilco Trading, LLC

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GR0 to Acquire Ultimate AI’s Deployment Division and Launch GR0 AI, Turning Brands’ Existing Customer Data Into Revenue

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July 24, 2026

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The new company pairs GR0’s performance marketing distribution with Ultimate Deployment’s AI agents and customer intelligence to build AI revenue systems for DTC and ecommerce brands; in one early deployment, AI-led customer conversations were associated with more than $350,000 in sales.

LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — GR0, the Los Angeles-based digital marketing agency, today announced plans to acquire Ultimate Deployment and launch GR0 AI, a new company that builds and deploys AI revenue systems for direct-to-consumer (DTC) and ecommerce brands. GR0 AI combines GR0’s performance marketing expertise, client relationships and sales infrastructure with Ultimate Deployment’s technology and experience deploying AI agents inside operating businesses.

“AI is creating an entirely new performance channel for brands,” said Jon Zacharias, co-founder and president of GR0. “Most companies already have the traffic, customer data and demand. What they’re missing is an intelligent system that knows who to contact, what to say and when to say it. GR0 AI turns the customer signals brands already own into personalized conversations and measurable revenue.”

The approach is already producing results. In one early deployment, AI-led customer conversations were associated with more than $350,000 in sales during a period in which the brand generated approximately $1 million in total revenue. GR0 AI deployments include attribution and incrementality reporting so brands can measure both assisted and directly generated revenue.

GR0 AI deploys inside a brand’s existing commerce, CRM, email, SMS, phone and customer-data infrastructure. Its systems:

Identify and prioritize high-intent customers and prospects Personalize outreach and follow-up based on customer behavior and company data Conduct two-way conversations across messaging channels, recovering revenue from abandoned carts, dormant customers and unconverted leads Escalate complex or high-value opportunities to human sales and support teams Measure the revenue associated with AI-driven interactions

“Most brands do not have a demand problem.  They already have thousands of customers and prospects sitting inside their systems,” said Ben Ganz, founder of Ultimate Deployment. “We build the company brain, unify the data and deploy AI employees that act on that intelligence. The opportunity falls into two buckets: recover the demand a brand has already earned, and make sure no new opportunity slips through the cracks. GR0 gives us the distribution, market access and operating experience to bring this to hundreds of brands.”

Ganz has spent his career at the intersection of entertainment and technology. He began as a producer on American Idol before moving into digital leadership at Fox, then founded VEGO Pictures, a digital production and technology company that worked with major entertainment and consumer brands and served as in-house production partner to Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Network. He also co-founded a virtual events company that produced digital graduation experiences for hundreds of thousands of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From there, Ganz and his team moved to the frontier of consumer AI, creating what FOX News called Hollywood’s first AI interactive voice experience. They powered AI personalities for creators with a combined audience of 100 million followers and engineered the world’s first AI assembly line for replicating personalities at scale, work the Hollywood Reporter recognized as the “Real-life Her.”  Ultimate Deployment then turned that conversational AI expertise toward the enterprise, building systems that connect company knowledge, customer data, and operational software with AI agents capable of performing real, meaningful business work.

“Ben and his team have built something with the potential to become a major new revenue channel for ecommerce companies,” Zacharias said. “We have seen very few offerings create this level of excitement among sophisticated performance marketers.”

Every GR0 AI engagement begins with an intensive discovery and implementation process: the team interviews key employees, maps the company’s systems and builds a centralized intelligence layer around the business. Lead scoring and prioritization are connected to the brand’s CRM before customer-facing AI agents go live.

“The technical opportunity is clear, and our job is to make it just as clear commercially,” said Kevin Miller, founder and CEO of GR0. “A brand that works with GR0 AI will know exactly what is being installed, how quickly it goes live and what revenue it is producing.”

The acquisition is expected to close this quarter, subject to completion of definitive agreements. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Brands interested in early GR0 AI deployments can learn more at www.gr0.com.

About GR0

GR0 is a full-service digital marketing agency that helps DTC and ecommerce brands accelerate growth through data-driven performance marketing, creative strategy and emerging technology. Co-founded by Kevin Miller and Jon Zacharias, GR0 provides services across SEO, Generative Engine Optimization, paid media, email, SMS, creative, affiliate and marketplace growth, and was among the first agencies to build a dedicated GEO practice, which is recognized by VentureBeat as one of America’s premier Generative Engine Optimization agencies. GR0 is headquartered in Los Angeles. Learn more at GR0.com.

About Ultimate Deployment

Ultimate Deployment builds AI employees for growing companies. Founded by Ben Ganz, the company captures how a business operates, organizes its institutional knowledge, connects its systems and deploys AI agents that perform real operational work across sales, customer experience, marketing, finance and internal teams.

Before its enterprise focus, Ultimate Deployment’s team built consumer AI at entertainment scale, creating Hollywood’s first interactive voice experience, powering AI personalities for creators with a combined audience of 100 million followers and engineering the world’s first AI assembly line for replicating personalities’ work featured by Fox News and recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as the real-life Her.

About Ultimate AI

Ultimate AI, founded by Ben Ganz, is a holding company building AI across consumer and enterprise. It launched during the first wave of consumer generative AI as an early AI super app, bringing more than 100 AI tools and assistants into a single consumer platform that peaked within the top 10 of its Apple App Store category, according to company data. The company then expanded into creator AI, developing technology that lets public figures build interactive AI experiences around their personality, voice, knowledge and content. In 2024, Ultimate AI created Pookie Tools (widely known as the Hawk Tuah AI app), whose launch generated more than 400 million organic social media views and more than 10,000 downloads in its first seven days with no paid marketing, according to company data. It went on to develop real-time voice and personality products, including an experience Fox News described as Hollywood’s first real-time AI experience.

Ultimate Deployment, the enterprise arm that GR0 is acquiring, formed in March 2026 following the release of frontier agentic models from Anthropic and OpenAI, and applies that technology inside operating companies. It builds AI employees that capture how a business operates, unify its data and systems, and perform real operational work across sales, customer experience, marketing, finance and internal teams.

Company: GR0
Media Contact Name: GR0 Agency
Media Contact Email: press@gr0.com
Phone: +1 (310) 439-1887
Address: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Website: https://gr0.com/

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SOURCE GR0.com LLC

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Tech Mahindra and Cisco Partner to Bring AI-Driven Security Service Edge to Global Enterprises

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July 24, 2026

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PUNE, India, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tech Mahindra (NSE: TECHM), a leading global provider of technology consulting and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, announced a partnership with Cisco to deliver an AI-driven Security Service Edge (SSE) offering for global enterprises. The joint offering will help enterprises reduce security complexity, improve visibility and control, deliver seamless user access, and strengthen resilience as they scale cloud, hybrid work, and AI adoption.

The partnership combines Tech Mahindra’s global managed services, integration, and delivery expertise with Cisco’s industry-leading Security Service Edge (SSE) platform (Cisco Secure Access) to provide unified, cloud-native security and seamless zero-trust access across users, devices, networks, and locations. For Tech Mahindra, the partnership strengthens its cybersecurity portfolio with differentiated, high-value managed security services, expands its addressable market, and accelerates pipeline growth in cloud security.

Saket Singh, SVP & Business Head – Digital Core Services (Cloud, Infrastructure, Network and Cyber Security Services), Tech Mahindra, said, “As enterprises increasingly operate in hybrid and distributed environments, security must evolve from siloed controls to unified, cloud-native platforms. Fragmented tools, inconsistent user experiences, and rising threats are creating visibility and control gaps as applications are accessed from anywhere. Through our partnership with Cisco, we are combining advanced SSE capabilities with Tech Mahindra’s managed services expertise to simplify operations, strengthen zero-trust enforcement, and deliver consistent, AI-powered protection at scale.”

By integrating a secure web gateway, cloud access security broker (CASB), zero trust network access (ZTNA), firewall-as-a-service, data loss prevention (DLP), and much more into a single platform, the offering simplifies security operations and delivers AI-powered protection. Enterprises benefit from end-to-end visibility, faster deployment, and a streamlined path to modernizing their security architecture while accelerating secure cloud adoption and cyber resilience. Additionally, as enterprises inevitably step into the agentic era, this solution provides robust and rapidly expanding protections for the use of generative AI and AI agents.

Raj Chopra, SVP & Chief Product Officer, Cisco Security Business Group, said, “Enterprises don’t need another tool to stitch into an already complex security stack. They need a simpler way to secure how work actually happens across users, devices, applications, clouds, and increasingly AI agents. Cisco Secure Access brings zero trust, identity context, and AI-powered protection into one cloud-delivered platform, helping teams enforce policy consistently while giving users seamless access from anywhere. Together with Tech Mahindra’s global managed services and integration expertise, we can help organizations modernize security operations, accelerate secure cloud and AI adoption, and move with confidence in the agentic era.”

The integrated SSE solution reinforces Tech Mahindra and Cisco’s leadership in unified cloud-security, helping enterprises simplify secure access, strengthen resilience and accelerate digital transformation in an increasingly distributed and AI-driven world.

 

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SOURCE Tech Mahindra

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