Blade Takes Off for the Stock Markets
The private helicopter taxi company is merging with a blank-check fund.
Blade lands a SPAC
Blade Urban Air Mobility, the New York-based helicopter taxi service, has struck a deal to go public via a sale to a blank-check company backed by KSL Capital that values the company at about $825 million. The deal includes $400 million in proceeds, which includes a $125 million infusion along with the cash in the SPAC. Pending the deal’s closure, it will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “BLDE.”
An upscale way to get from here to there. Blade was founded in 2014 by Rob Wiesenthal, the former Warner Music and Sony exec, catering to wealthy Manhattanites seeking a quicker way to get to the Hamptons, Nantucket and other popular summer destinations. (The 40-minute flight from Manhattan to East Hampton currently runs $795 per seat.) Blade has since expanded into other modes of transit, like seaplanes and private jet flights from Westchester to Aspen, Miami and further afield. During the pandemic, Blade has added other perks, including on-site Covid testing before check-in.
A flying E.V. SPACs have bet big on electric vehicles this year, looking to catch a winner in the shift to a low-carbon economy. There is an E.V. aspect to the Blade deal, too. Some of the proceeds in the merger will go toward its adoption of electric aircraft. The nascent technology is still working toward regulatory approval, with the U.S. military and Airbus, a Blade investor, among those developing prototypes.
KSL, the private equity firm behind the SPAC, also owns the airport services group Ross Aviation, which it says will partner with Blade on some routes, providing maintenance and — eventually — electric charging stations.
An elite investor base. Blade’s investors reflect the sort of clientele it attracts, including IAC’s Barry Diller, iHeartMedia’s Robert Pittman and Discovery’s David Zaslav. They’re joined in the deal by the venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya, the media mogul David Geffen, HG Vora Capital and KSL. Mr. Palihapitiya’s involvement is notable, given that he typically runs his own SPACs as the sponsor backing the deal.