A lifeline for Lilium?
December 24, 2024
In what could be construed a Christmas miracle, insolvent air taxi company Lilium may be saved from the brink of collapse, with investment consortium Mobile Uplift Corporation intending to acquire the operating assets of Lilium and Lilium eAircraft – and providing “sufficient funding to restart their business operations”.
The news comes just a day after German media reported that Lilium had allegedly laid off almost all of its some 1,000 employees, with co-founder Patrick Nathen writing on social media that “it’s a sad reality that Lilium has ceased operations”. However, hinting at a potential upcoming investment announcement a spokesperson for Lilium told Aerospace Global News that they would have more information as soon as they were able.
Lilium has now confirmed that “on 20 December 2024, the subsidiaries [Lilium and Lilium eAircraft] terminated the contract of their remaining employees in accordance with German law”.
However, following the sale of Lilium’s business – something expected to close in early January 2025 – “the parties aim to implement the planned restructuring of the subsidiaries,” enabling business to restart and for Lilium to exit its self-administration proceedings. Proceeds from the sale will be utilised according to German insolvency law, with no amounts to pass directly to Lilium.
In November, Lilium appointed KPMG to “conduct an open, transparent and fair [merger and acquisition] process, following court approval of Lilium’s insolvency filing. At the time, Roewe remained optimistic about his company’s future, stating: “With the support of our appointed custodian and the restructuring experts, we at Lilium remain fully focused on re-emerging following restructuring, with fresh investment to support the all-electric Lilium Jet’s path to certification and entry into service”.
