Owner of Diamond Aircraft to acquire Volocopter for €10 million
March 11, 2025
A newly-formed subsidiary of Chinese automotive parts and equipment manufacturer Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co, Berlin-based Heptus 591, is to acquire insolvent eVTOL developer Volocopter for €10 million.
In a translated 10 March stock announcement (first reported by The China eVTOL News), it was announced that Heptus 591 has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire Volocopter’s “related tangible assets, intellectual property rights, and assume specific contract rights and obligations”. The total book value of the related tangible assets and intellectual property rights is estimated at €42 million.
Heptus 591 was formally registered in the Munich District Court on 17 January 2025, with its office based in Berlin. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diamond Verwaltungs (owned of Diamond Aircraft Industries), which is indirectly wholly owned by Wanfeng Aviation.
According to the stock release, the agreement was signed on 5 March. “After acquiring the transaction target, the company will continue to promote the type certification process for the relevant aircraft models,” it revealed. Heptus 591 will also lease specific real estate (including office buildings and factories) for a monthly rent of €40,000, up to a period of five months.
What happens next is less clear, with Heptus 591 stating that the acquisition is intended to “develop advanced eVTOL products and create a new growth engine for the company”. When the Diamond Aviation Group was acquired by Wanfeng Aviation in December 2017, President of Wanfeng Auto Holding Group noted he was “attracted to Diamond’s leadership position in the market,” with the Diamond range of aircraft having “gained worldwide respect for their performance, efficiency, safety and innovation”.
It could be that Heptus 591 intends to explore synergies between Volocopter’s all-electric expertise and Diamond Aircraft’s upcoming eDA40, a derivative of the existing (and certified) DA40 platform. A spokesperson for Diamond Aircraft had no immediate comment.
Volocopter filed for insolvency on 30 December 2024, with CEO Dirk Hoke explaining that “despite recent intensive funding efforts, finding a viable solution to maintain regular operations outside of insolvency proceedings has not been possible”. Business operations and test flights have continued during the ensuing months as Volocopter looks to complete EASA certification of its two-seat piloted VoloCity craft. With Volocopter at the forefront of its industry peers in terms of technological, flight test and certification processes, Hoke has preciously commented that this “makes [Volocopter] and attractive company to invest in while [it organises itself] with internal restructuring”.
