Blade Urban Air Mobility, the US-based air transport provider backed by aerospace manufacturer Airbus, agreed to a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Experience Investment Corp yesterday.
The deal will value the merged company at $825m once the deal closes. Experience Investment, which is sponsored by private equity firm KSL Capital Partners, floated in a $250m initial public offering in September 2019 and Blade will take its listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
The transaction will be boosted by $125m in private investment in public equity financing from investors including affiliates of KSL Capital Partners, Hedosophia, HG Vora Capital Management, David Geffen, Barry Diller, David Zaslav and Robert W. Pittman.
Blade operates a short-distance air passenger service utilising jets, helicopters and seaplanes. It has formed partnerships with local operators in overseas markets, and also runs an organ transport service for healthcare providers in its home country.
The company intends to eventually switch to electric-powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft once the technology is available, in addition to expanding in the Northeast Corridor and West Coast regions of the United States and into Asia.
Airbus subsidiary Airbus Helicopters participated in Blade’s last funding round, a $38m series B in early 2018 co-led by real estate investment trust Colony NorthStar and venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau that also featured LionTree Ventures.
Raine Ventures and various individuals had provided $6m for the company in a 2015 seed round valuing it at $25m, before Raine joined angel investor David Zaslav to supply an undisclosed amount of series A funding the following year.
