China’s Geely in Talks for Control of Flying Taxi Startup Volocopter
- Investment could keep air-taxi pioneer out of bankruptcy
- Startup once worth $1.9 billion cut to around $110 million
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Chinese conglomerate Geely is in advanced talks to take control of Germany’s Volocopter Gmbh in a deal that would save the flying taxi startup from potential bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the talks.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has discussed taking a majority stake in Volocopter by leading a consortium that will inject fresh capital into the company, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. The funding round would be about $95 million in exchange for roughly 85% ownership, said one of the people. The family office of German industrialist Gerhard Sturm would also participate in the deal, the person said.