Blade Air Mobility on Friday completed the sale of its passenger business and officially rebranded as Strata Critical Medical Inc.
The company, one of the largest air medical transporters of human organs for transplant, sold its passenger unit to electric air taxi developer Joby Aviation. It did not disclose the final sale price, though it did say Joby elected to pay the up-front consideration in stock.
When the deal was first announced on August 4, Blade said Joby would pay up to $125 million.
Strata officials said the divestiture will allow the company to focus on growing its medical services capabilities.
“Our rebranding as Strata Critical Medical reflects the company’s now 100 percent focus on the rapidly growing, contractual, and macro-noncorrelated marketplaces for organ logistics and other medical services,” said co-CEO and general counsel Melissa Tomkiel. “We’ve built the industry-leading organ transplant logistics and services platform, delivering rapid response times and cost efficiency while benefiting from the redundancy and unmatched scale of our coast-to-coast asset-light aircraft network.”
The deal gives Joby control of the former Blade unit’s operations in the U.S. and Europe, including lounges and terminal space, as well as the Blade brand. As part of the transaction, Strata will have access to Joby aircraft for medical use.
Strata began trading under the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol SRTA on Friday.
Joby is developing the S4, a piloted, four-passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft intended for short-hop trips. Operations are planned for major U.S. cities, including New York and Los Angeles.
