- Blade Urban Air Mobility, Inc. today announced the completion
of its business combination with Experience Investment Corp., a
special purpose acquisition company sponsored by KSL Capital
Partners
- The combined company’s common stock will begin trading on the
NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “BLDE” on May 10, 2021
- Transaction proceeds of approximately $365 million, after
giving effect to minimal redemptions, enables an acceleration of
Blade’s acquisition and route expansion strategy
- Blade will be the first publicly traded urban air mobility
company
BLADE Urban Air Mobility, Inc., a technology-powered air
mobility company, today announced the completion of its business
combination with Experience Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: EXPC, “EIC”),
a NASDAQ listed special purpose acquisition company sponsored by
KSL Capital Partners. The combined holding company will change its
legal name to Blade Air Mobility, Inc. (the “Blade HoldCo”) and
Blade Urban Air Mobility, Inc. (“Blade” or the “Company”) will be
its wholly owned, operating subsidiary. The Blade HoldCo’s common
stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on May 10, 2021
on the NASDAQ under the new ticker symbols “BLDE” and “BLDEW,”
respectively.
As a result of the business combination and concurrent private
placement of common stock, Blade HoldCo received approximately $365
million in gross proceeds.
Kenneth B. Lerer, Chairman of Blade said, “Our transaction with
EIC is transformative. The capital will enable Blade’s strong brand
and consumer proposition in urban air mobility to rapidly scale
across new markets while allowing the Company to accelerate M&A
activities and ensure that it is well positioned as Electric
Vertical Aircraft become available.”
Rob Wiesenthal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blade,
added, “Our recent agreements with Electric Vertical Aircraft
manufacturers Beta Technologies and Wisk Aero will accelerate our
transition to quiet, emission-free, and cost efficient urban air
mobility. Additionally, we are well positioned to capitalize on
pent-up travel demand with the relaunch of our New York Airport
service and related partnership with KAYAK.”
Eric Affeldt, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Experience
Investment Corp., added, “We are pleased to see the completion of
this merger. Blade stands at the intersection of urban air mobility
and the ongoing transition to an emission-free transportation
world. We believe the unique position of Blade as an operating
urban air mobility business will enable it to deliver significant
value to internal and external stakeholders.”
In addition to Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s existing management team
will continue to lead the combined company including President
Melissa Tomkiel, Chief Financial Officer Will Heyburn, and Chief
Technology Officer Brandon Keene.
Advisors
Credit Suisse served as the exclusive financial and capital
markets advisor to Blade. Deutsche Bank Securities served as lead
capital markets and exclusive financial advisor to Experience
Investment Corp., with Citigroup and J.P. Morgan acting as joint
capital markets advisors. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank
Securities also acted as lead placement agents on the private
offering, with Citigroup and J.P. Morgan acting as joint placement
agents. Proskauer Rose LLP served as legal advisor to Blade, and
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal advisor to
Experience Investment Corp.
About Blade
Blade is a technology-powered urban air mobility platform
committed to reducing travel friction by providing cost-effective
air transportation alternatives to some of the most congested
ground routes in the U.S. and abroad. Today, the Company
predominantly uses helicopters and amphibious aircraft. Its
asset-light model, coupled with its exclusive passenger terminal
infrastructure, is designed to facilitate a seamless transition to
Electric Vertical Aircraft ("EVA" or “eVTOL”), enabling lower cost
air mobility to the public that is both quiet and
emission-free.
For more information, visit blade.com/investors.
About Experience Investment Corp.
Experience Investment Corp. is a special purpose acquisition
company sponsored by an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners and
formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock
exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or
similar business combination with one or more businesses.
For more information, please visit
experienceinvestmentcorp.com
About KSL Capital Partners
KSL Capital Partners, LLC is a private equity firm specializing
in premier travel and leisure enterprises in five primary sectors:
hospitality, recreation, clubs, real estate, and travel services.
Since 2005, KSL has raised approximately $13 billion of capital
across both debt and equity funds.
For more information, please visit kslcapital.com
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of federal securities laws, including with
respect to the business combination of Blade and EIC.
Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other
statements about future events that are based on current
expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks
and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to
differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press
release. Such factors can be found in EIC’s most recent annual
report on Form 10-K, subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form
10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, which are available, free of
charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, and also in EIC’s Form
S-4 and definitive proxy statement/prospectus, filed with the SEC.
New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is
impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us
or the business combination between Blade and EIC. You are
cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date made, and we undertake
no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, changes in expectations,
future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210507005566/en/
For BLADE Phil Denning / Nora Flaherty
BladeMediaRelations@icrinc.com
For Experience Investment Corp. Maureen Richardson
mrichardson@riverinc.com
For KSL Capital Partners Maureen Richardson
mrichardson@riverinc.com
For Investors Tom Cook BladeIR@icrinc.com
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