Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is pleased to announce that two transactions the firm advised on won at the Airline Economics’ Aviation 100 Asia-Pacific Awards 2025.
WFW advised multiple parties on the transaction named Overall Deal of the Year – the historic merger of Vistara with Air India to form a unified full-service airline under the Air India brand. The cross-border WFW Aviation & Aerospace team that advised the parties was led by London Partner Randeep Bubbra and Singapore Partner Richard Williams. The deal was also named Best Asian M&A Deal of the Year at the Ishka Deal of the Year Awards 2024.
The financing of six Boeing 777 aircraft through GIFT City, India’s established financial hub, was named Structured Finance Deal of the Year. WFW acted as English counsel to Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of India, which featured a groundbreaking financing structure and marked the first commercial aircraft financing structured directly through GIFT City. The cross-border WFW Aviation and Aerospace team that advised on the matter was also led by Singapore Partner Richard Williams.
WFW Global Aviation and Aerospace Sector Head Jim Bell commented: “It’s fantastic to see our team recognised once again for their pioneering work in aviation finance. The Indian aviation market has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with transactions such as these playing a key role. Whatever the transaction, WFW has the expertise to continue driving innovation in the aviation sector”.
