China’s Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co. has agreed to acquire German eVTOL aircraft manufacturer Volocopter, which is currently involved in an insolvency process.
In a stock exchange statement reported on March 10 by China Evtol News, the automotive group said that its German subsidiary Heptus 591 GmbH has signed an asset purchase agreement with Volocopter’s court appointed administrator Tobias Wahl covering the acquisition of assets, and intellectual property rights, as well as assuming contract rights and obligations.
According to the stock market statement, Wanfeng is paying €10 million ($11 million) to acquire Volocopter, with the book value of assets and intellectual property declared as €42 million.
According to Wanfeng, the purchase price was set, “based on the condition of the assets and the progress of research and development [for Volocopter’s two-seat VoloCity eVTOL model] as of the signing date [March 5] through friendly negotiation between the parties on a mutually beneficial basis.”
The Wanfeng group holds a controlling 55% stake in light aircraft manufacturer Wanfeng Aviation. Since 2017, it has also owned owned Austria’s Diamond Aircraft, which makes a family of general aviation models including the DA20, the DA40, the DA42 and the DA62.
Heptus 591was established as a limited liability company in Germany on January 17, apparently as a vehicle for the Volocopter transaction.
The Berlin-based firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diamond Verwaltungs, which itself is wholly owned by Wanfeng Aviation.
The terms of the transaction, which still has to be authorized by Volocopter’s current owners, require Heptus 591to assume responsibility under German law for labor relations with employees, most of whom are currently on court-ordered gardening leave.
The buyer has also committed to leasing factories and office buildings for a monthly rent of €40,000 for a period of up to five months.
Wanfeng has not made any public statement about its intentions for Volocopter, which, until it had to file for pre-insolvency protection on December 26, has been aiming to complete EASA type certification of the VoloCity in 2025. On February 18, French helicopter operator Jet Systems Hélicoptères Services signed an agreement to buy two of the aircraft.
According to Wanfeng, the acquisition, “will enrich the company’s low-altitude industry product portfolio, [and] positively promote the global industrial layout of the company’s low-altitude field, [and] align with the company’s long-term development strategy, and benefit the company and its shareholders.”
In 2019, China’s Geely automotive group was one of Volocopter’s early financial backers in a Series C funding round.
In September 2021, Geely announced a joint venture between Volocopter and its eVTOL manufacturing subsidiary Aerofugia.
China-based advanced air mobility group DAP Technologies has said it aims to cooperate with Wanfeng to advance plans to give the VoloCity aircraft access to the domestic market. According to the company’s CEO, Louis Liu, a Chinese takeover of Volocopter’s assets is the best outcome for the German company.