Electric air-taxi developer Joby Aviation agreed to buy Blade Air Mobility’s passenger ride-share business for as much as $125 million in cash or stock. The deal hands Joby the Blade brand, its United States and European helicopter routes, and 12 terminals in markets such as New York’s JFK and Newark airports and several Manhattan heliports. Blade’s medical organ-transport division is excluded from the sale and will become a stand-alone public company renamed Strata Critical Medical, which will remain a preferred logistics partner for Joby. About $35 million of the consideration is contingent on performance milestones and retention of key Blade employees; Blade Chief Executive Officer Rob Wiesenthal will continue to run the passenger unit as a wholly owned Joby subsidiary. Joby said the acquisition accelerates the commercial roll-out of its battery-powered eVTOL aircraft by giving it immediate access to infrastructure and a customer base that exceeded 50,000 passengers last year. The Santa Cruz-based company expects to begin Federal Aviation Administration type-inspection flight testing early next year and aims to transition Blade’s helicopter routes to electric aircraft over time. In pre-market trading following the announcement, Blade shares jumped about 28% while Joby rose roughly 6%.
Joby Aviation's latest acquisition could reshape urban air travel, bringing electric air taxis closer to reality in major cities across the U.S. and Europe. https://t.co/FYCuhxB2VD
Air taxi firm Joby to acquire Blade Air’s passenger business #ARYNews https://t.co/AD1mOcWo3q
Just in: $JOBY acquires $BLDE's helicopter ride-share business for up to $125M to accelerate its electric air taxi rollout. The deal boosts $JOBY stock by 22% and includes a defense partnership with $LHX. Blade will continue operations from Joby's HQ.