Embraer's Eve eVTOL business to become public company

Embraer's Eve business is developing all-electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. (Embraer)

Brazil's Embraer plans to turn its Eve electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft business into a publicly held company to raise money for its growth, Embraer announced on 21 December.

Eve will change its status by merging with Zanite Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that is focused on the aviation sector. The combined entity will use the “Eve” name and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Embraer will own an 82% stake in the new Eve, and will support the merged company with various resources, including engineering and production capabilities. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022 and leave the eVTOL firm with about USD512 million in cash to further develop and commercialise its products.

While Eve is focused on the civil sector, especially the fledgling urban air mobility (UAM) market, Embraer and UK-based BAE Systems announced on 21 December that they have agreed to jointly explore the development of an eVTOL variant for the defence and security market. They plan to study such potential applications as personnel transportation, surveillance and reconnaissance, disaster relief, and humanitarian response.

BAE Systems has also agreed to invest USD10 million in the Eve business.