UAL Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. closed their merger deal Friday to form the world’s largest carrier, called United Airlines.
The new holding company formed from the $3.17-billion all-stock merger is called United Continental Holdings Inc. and begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday under the symbol “UAL.”
United said its 16-member board of directors includes UAL CEO Glenn Tilton, as non-executive chairman of the merged airline, and Continental CEO Jeff Smisek, as president and chief executive officer.
The independent directors are Kirbyjon Caldwell, Carolyn Corvi, James Farrell, Jane Garvey, Walter Isaacson, Henry Meyer, Oscar Munoz, James O’Connor, Laurence Simmons, David Vitale, John Walker and Charles Yamarone.
The board also has two union directors, Stephen Canale and Wendy Morse.
United said it had $9-billion in unrestricted cash at closing. The company has said the merger will deliver $1-billion to $1.2-billion in annual cost and revenue benefits by 2013.
