Archer has announced a deal to acquire three businesses from Boeing – Wisk, Insitu and SkyGrid – in a transaction that will see Boeing take a strategic equity stake in Archer and deepen collaboration between the two companies.
Following completion, Archer said its product portfolio will span piloted air taxis, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) across Groups 2 to 5, purpose-built artificial intelligence for aviation and the technology stack required for autonomous flight.
Boeing will receive equity in Archer as consideration for the transaction, subject to a lock-up period. Warrants issued to Boeing as part of the deal have exercise prices significantly above Archer’s recent trading levels, at roughly two- and three-times the company’s recent share price.
Archer said the deal structure reflects Boeing’s confidence in the long-term value of the combination, with Boeing becoming a strategic shareholder in Archer as part of the transaction.
The company also highlighted the potential standalone value of the assets being acquired.
Archer said Wisk’s closest publicly traded peers are valued at close to US$1 billion. It described Wisk as significantly more advanced in autonomous aviation technology, pointing to more than 1,700 test flights and a portfolio of over 1,000 patents.
Insitu, meanwhile, is profitable and generates more than US$200 million in annual revenue, according to Archer. The company said comparable UAS businesses trade at between three- and seven-times revenue, suggesting a potentially substantial valuation for the business.
Archer said the metrics indicate Wisk and Insitu could each potentially command billion-dollar valuations on a standalone basis.
The company also sees significant potential in combining SkyGrid with Archer’s ZEE AI foundation model, with the aim of developing technology for air traffic management and autonomous aviation globally.
