Deal Allowed Astro Aerospace To Sell 100% of Horizon Aircraft Equity

Horizon Aircraft, an eVTOL aircraft developer, has been sold by Astro Aerospace after its acquisition in June in 2021.

The deal saw the transfer of Horizon over to a group of Astro shareholders in a move that CEO Brandon Robinson says will “allow Horizon Aircraft to accelerate development of our eVTOL in the private sector with access to more flexible funding mechanisms”. News of the deal broke in early August after the agreement was announced, and has now been completed, making Horizon Aircraft a standalone company once again. 

Upon the signing of the initial agreement, Astro CEO Bruce Bent said that “horizon’s progress has been nothing short of outstanding over the last year with several grants, a USAF contract award, and a large-scale prototype ready to fly.” The deal allowed Astro Aerospace to sell 100% of Horizon Aircraft equity to several key Astro shareholders in exchange for certain public securities and a fraction of the now-privatized Horizon. The shift is expected to set the company up for a round of series A funding to enable at least 24 months of continuous - and expensive - development of the company’s prototype Cavorite X-series eVTOL. 

“Astro is grateful to remain a strategic investor and partner as we collectively move towards building a better future,” said Bent in early August.

Horizon has indeed made some promising headway on developing a full-scale Cavorite X5, busy at work testing its 50% scale prototype as it moves along in the highly competitive AFWERX HSVTOL challenge. Should it succeed at gaining the program’s favor, they could end up with $35 million in non-dilutive financing over the next 3 years. Either way, Horizon seems content to continue working on the Cavorite X5, with some rumblings  from commentators floating the possibility of the company monetizing their 50% scale prototype as a smaller scale cargo UAV.

FMI: www.horizonaircraft.com