Air-taxi startup Lilium begins trading on Nasdaq; receives $264M less than expected in SPAC deal

Earlier this year, in March 2021, Munich-based aviation startup Lilium announced that it is all set to go public through a merger with a special acquisition company, Qell Acquisition Corp. The newly formed company will list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LILM”.

On Tuesday, the company announced that it has completed its business combination with Qell Acquisition Corp, and will begin trading on Nasdaq from today. 

Lilium’s Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbols “LILM” and “LILMW”, respectively. The deal was approved by Qell’s shareholders on September 10, 2021, during a “Special Meeting” with more than 98 per cent of the votes cast being in favor of the business combination.

Lilium receives €494.88M

The company, in March, announced that it expected to receive about $830M (approx €706.84M) after completion. 

However, as a result of the business combination, Lilium will receive only about $584M (approx €494.88M) of  gross proceeds, prior to transaction expenses, including from funds managed by leading strategic and long-term financial investors including Atomico, Baillie Gifford, LGT and its affiliate impact investing platform Lightrock, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Tencent, Ferrovial, Palantir, Honeywell, FII Institute and private funds affiliated with PIMCO.

The company, in March, announced that it expected to receive about $830M (approx €706.84M) after completion. 

With the raised funds, Lilium will invest in the commercial launch of its 7-Seater Jet. The company’s existing shareholders will roll 100 per cent of their shares into the combined company.

Barry Engle, CEO & co-founder of Qell says, “We see Lilium as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will be at the forefront of a whole new industry. Lilium has the capacity to revolutionise regional travel, saving people hours so they can quickly travel from city to city. Using its 7-Seater Lilium Jet, Lilium’s regional shuttle service should enable sustainable, high-speed transportation. Qell is proud to bring this exciting company to the public markets.”

With this deal, Tom Enders, former Airbus CEO will join Lilium’s board, alongside Daniel Wiegand, Barry Engle, Gabrielle Toledano, Henri Courpron, David Wallerstein, Niklas Zennström, David Neeleman, and Margaret M. Smyth. 

Tom Enders, says, “Shareholders, management, and more than 700 employees are united in their quest for sustainable aviation for everybody. Our role as a Board of Directors is to make strategic decisions, supervise, coach, and advise.”

About Lilium

The company was established in 2015 by Daniel Wiegand, Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner, and Patrick Nathen. Lilium is creating a sustainable and accessible mode of high-speed, regional transportation for people and goods.

Speaking on the development, Daniel Wiegand, co-founder & CEO of Lilium says, “In 2015 with the clear vision that the decarbonisation of aviation is inevitable, we set out to build a team and product that would radically transform the way the world moves. Six years and five generations of technology demonstrator aircraft later, we’re closer than ever to this goal. Today’s milestone will bring us even closer to launching our service in 2024 and making sustainable, high-speed regional air travel a reality to communities around the world.”

Using its 7-Seater Lilium Jet, Lilium’s regional shuttle service will enable sustainable, high-speed transportation. The Jet is capable of quiet vertical take-off to allow access to more landing sites, and the opportunity to build higher network density, avoiding the need for expensive ground infrastructure.

Working with aerospace, technology, and infrastructure leaders, and with planned launch networks announced in Germany, the US, and Brazil, commercial operations are projected to begin in 2024. Lilium has put in place a rigorous aerospace program across all certification, design, testing, and production phases, with maturity gates at every stage of the aircraft’s development cycle. It has over 400 engineers and a combined 4,000 years of aerospace experience.

The company claims that its leadership team was previously responsible for developing and delivering some of the most successful and complex aircraft in aviation history, including the Airbus A320, A350 and A380, Eurofighter Typhoon, Gulfstream G650, and Harrier VTOL.