Eve, a start-up created by Embraer to explore the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market, will merge with Zanite Acquisition Corp to create Eve Holding, a company that will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The deal calls for Zanite to invest $237 million while Embraer will contribute $302 million, most of which will be used to develop eVTOL, which already has 1,735 orders through Letters of Intent.
The order backlog so far has reached $5 billion after Embraer announced more partnerships on Tuesday.
Two US regional airlines, SkyWest and Republic Airways, have signed deals with Eve totaling 300 aircraft. Both are long-time Embraer customers, operating E-Jets for several years.
Also Azorra, an aircraft leasing company located in Florida, signed a Letter of Intent for 200 eVTOL.
The most surprising deal, however, was with BAE Systems. The British aerospace giant and Embraer Defense and Security announced plans for a joint study to explore the potential of eVTOL in the defense market.
Embraer’s multiple announcements sent the company’s shares soaring on Tuesday in New York and Sao Paulo.
“We believe that the urban air mobility market has enormous potential to expand in the coming years based on an efficient, zero-emissions transport proposition, and that with this business combination, Eve is very well positioned to become one of the major players in this segment,” said Francisco Gomes Neto, CEO of Embraer.
“The Zanite team is extremely proud to partner with Eve and Embraer in this transaction. After an extensive search, we selected Eve because of its simple and certifiable eVTOL design, its capital efficient approach to fleet operations and Embraer’s global footprint that we believe will enable Eve to not only reach vehicle type certification, but to scale its manufacturing, support and operations globally,” said Kenn Ricci, Co-CEO of Zanite.
