Urban Air Mobility Pure Play Blade Gets SPAC Deal

A new publicly traded pure play on urban air mobility is coming, with Blade announcing an SPAC deal Tuesday.

The SPAC Deal: Blade is going public via Experience Investment Corp EXPC.

The $125-million PIPE includes new investors Hedosophia, KSL Capital and David Geffen and original investors Barry Diller, David Zaslav and Robert Pittman.

Airbus EADSY, an investor in Blade, is keeping its ownership in the company.

KSL Capital is an investor in Ross Aviation, which operates 17 fixed based locations throughout North America, which could provide partnerships for Blade.

KSL also owns asset companies in the skiing, lodges, resorts and hotel industries, which could all be good partners for Blade.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. Shares will trade with ticker "BLDE" after the deal is completed.

Shareholders of Experience Investment Corp will own 33.3% of the new company.

Related Link: 7 Stocks That Could Benefit From China’s Urban Air Mobility Investment

About Blade: Blade is an urban air mobility company helping with captive passenger infrastructure.

More people fly helicopters in and out of U.S. city centers via Blade than any other company in the world. The company has been used by more than 200,000 people.

The company’s four key targets are short distance flights of 60 to 100 miles; Blade airport flights between all New York airports; Blade Medimobility, which is the largest transporter of human organs in the Northeast U.S.; and international joint ventures with local partners in key overseas markets.

Blade has held the No. 1 market share in New York by seat for the helicopter market since 2015, the company said. 

Financials: Blade was designed for scalability and profitability, the company said in a presentation. 

Revenue was $33 million in 2019 with 10 scheduled flight routes. The company expects to have revenue of $402 million in 2024 with 28 routes.

Revenue is projected to scale up with the introduction of the eVTOL in 2025 and bring annual revenue to $601 million.

Growth: The urban air mobility market is expected to see strong growth ahead.

The market is estimated to be worth $125 billion by 2025 and $650 billion by 2030.

Urban air mobility is expected to help with global traffic congestion. The airports in New York City see 140 million airport passengers annually. Blade sees 3 to 5 million of these passengers as its serviceable market.

One of the keys to growth could be the company’s eVTOL electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This vehicle has seen billions spent on development by investors and partners. The vehicle has significant advantages to conventional aircraft, according to the company. 

International expansion is also seen as a driver for the company. The joint venture in India is on a royalty and profit sharing model. 

Blade signed an MOU for the Japanese market with a large industrial conglomerate customer.

Price Action: Shares of Experience Investment Corp closed Tuesday's session 1.46% higher at $10.39. Shares traded above $12.50 in premarket trading.