The acquisition includes all of Blade’s passenger business, including operations in the US and Europe, lounges and terminals in key hubs, as well as the Blade brand.
Joby Aviation, Inc. (JOBY) on Monday said it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase helicopter operator Blade Air Mobility, Inc.’s (BLDE) urban air mobility passenger business, allowing it immediate market access across urban corridors in New York City and Southern Europe.
Joby, a California-based air taxi company, will pay Blade stock or cash of up to $125 million under the deal, including $35 million of holdbacks, which will be released subject to the achievement of certain performance milestones and retention of certain employees. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks, subject to satisfaction of or waiver of customary closing conditions.
The acquisition includes all of Blade’s passenger business, including operations in the U.S. and Europe, lounges and terminals in key hubs, as well as the Blade brand. Joby now intends to gradually transition a loyal base of passengers from conventional helicopters to Joby aircraft, which is an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing air taxi.
Shares of JOBY traded 14% higher at the time of writing, while shares of BLDE soared 30%. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Joby jumped from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ territory over the past 24 hours while message volume remained at ‘low’ levels.
A Stocktwits user expressed optimism about the potential for expanding its total addressable market.
Another, however, flagged that the air taxi business has been unprofitable for other players in the industry, such as Chinese EV maker XPeng (XPEV).
Blade’s Medical division, however, will remain public and rebrand as Strata Critical Medical, Blade said. Trinity Medical Solutions, focused on enabling recovery of organs for transplant in the U.S., will remain Strata’s wholly-owned subsidiary. A new ticker for Strata will be announced at a later date.
Strata will also gain access to Joby aircraft for medical use as part of a long-term eVTOL partnership between the companies, it said.
The acquisition, Joby said, will allow it to combine its technology with Blade’s experience in delivering premium customer transportation at scale as the company gears up to transport its first passenger in Dubai next year.
Blade flew more than 50,000 passengers in 2024 from a network of 12 urban terminals situated in important urban air mobility markets, including dedicated lounge and terminal bases at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty Airport, as well as the West Side of Manhattan, the East Side of Manhattan, and Wall Street.
Blade passenger operations are expected to continue as normal and will continue to be led by Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Joby. Wiesenthal will also serve as Chairman of the Board of Strata.
JOBY stock is up by 140% this year and by about 284% over the past 12 months.
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