Lilium, the German manufacturer of flying taxis, has found an investor to avoid bankruptcy and plans to recall 1,000 employees recently made redundant. The Mobile Uplift Corporation investment consortium, made up of experienced investors from Europe and North America, is buying Lilium's operating assets.

This transaction, which should be effective from the beginning of January 2025, will enable the involved subsidiaries to restart their operations. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed. The proceeds of the sale will be used in accordance with German insolvency law, with no redistribution of funds to Lilium N.V.. KPMG, which led the M&A process, played a key role in the financial reorganisation.

"We are very pleased to announce the signing of an investment agreement with a highly experienced consortium, which represents a major step forward," said Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe. "Completing the deal in January will allow us to re-launch our business."

In parallel, Lilium recently signed a binding sale agreement with The Ambitious Group, an electric air taxi operator, for eight jets with an option for a further six. This partnership targets markets in Spain, Morocco and the Benelux region, before a potential extension to the Caribbean. Lilium's order book now includes 108 firm orders and nearly 700 aircrafts under memorandum of understanding, notably in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Saudi Arabia.

Founded in 2015, Lilium specialises in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flying taxis. Since last year, the company has begun production of these machines capable of transporting up to six people. . Lilium is facing very high production costs, with €200m spent in the first half of 2024, despite €1.5bn of investment already invested The first manned flight is still scheduled for 2025, with deliveries starting in 2026.

This article was originally published in .