Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Acquisitions

v3.22.2.2
Acquisitions
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Business Combination and Asset Acquisition [Abstract]  
Acquisitions Acquisitions
Acquisition of Blade Europe

On September 1, 2022, Blade acquired, through Blade Europe SAS, a wholly-owned French société par actions simplifiée subsidiary (“Blade Europe”), 100% of the share capital and voting rights (the “Shares”) of Héli Tickets France SAS (“Héli Tickets France”), a French société par actions simplifiée, which was then renamed “Blade France SAS” (“Blade France”) and of Helicopter Monaco SARL (“Helicopter Monaco”), a Monegasque société à responsabilité limitée, which was then renamed “Blade Monaco SARL” (“Blade Monaco”). These acquisitions are part of Blade growth strategy of leveraging its asset-light model, technology and recognized brand to aggregate the use cases for urban air mobility. The routes in Southern France, Monaco, Italy and Switzerland, meet the criteria given the geography, short distances and large addressable markets. In addition these markets have connectivity to our existing service areas where the Blade brand enjoys recognition, creating the opportunity for cross pollination between our North American and European customer base.

We hereafter refer to the three European legal entities (Blade Europe, Blade France and Blade Monaco) collectively as “Blade Europe”.

Prior to the completion of the acquisition, the sellers completed a series of reorganization transactions in which all assets and liabilities relating to the distribution and commercial passenger transportation activities of Héli Sécurité SAS, a French société par actions simplifiée (“Héli Sécurité”) and Azur Hélicoptère SAS, a French société par action simplifiée (“Azur”) were transferred to Héli Tickets France and all assets and liabilities relating to the distribution and commercial passenger transportation activities of Monacair S.A.M., a Monegasque société anonyme (“Monacair” and collectively with Héli Sécurité and Azur, the “Operators”) were transferred to Helicopter Monaco.

Simultaneously with the acquisition, on September 1, 2022 Blade Europe entered into an Aircraft Operator Agreement (the “Europe AOA”) with the sellers and the Operators. The Europe AOA governs the terms of the operating relationship between the parties thereto, including among other things, the right of Blade to act as exclusive air charter broker and/or reseller of the air transportation services to be operated and provided by the Operators thereto for specific routes at pre-negotiated fixed hourly rates and with a minimum number of annual flight hours guaranteed to the Operators by Blade. The
agreement’s initial term ends on December 31, 2032 and it will thereafter automatically renew for successive three year periods.

The Company accounted for the lease component of the minimum guarantee included in the Europe AOA as an embedded lease, with a corresponding balance included in the operating right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and lease liability reported in the Company’s unaudited interim condensed consolidated balance sheets (see Note 5).

Blade paid an aggregate cash purchase price for the Shares of Héli Tickets France and Helicopter Monaco of €47,800 ($48,101). Acquisition costs of $2,785 were expensed as incurred and are included in general and administrative expenses in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations for the period ended September 30, 2022.

The results of Blade Europe for the period from the September 1, 2022 (“acquisition date”) to September 30, 2022 are included in the Short Distance line of business.

Net Assets Acquired

The assets acquired and liabilities assumed have been included in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements as of the acquisition date. Total assets acquired included a preliminary estimate of identifiable intangible asset of $28,861. At the time of acquisition, the Company recognized an asset for a preliminary estimate of goodwill, determined as the excess of the purchase price over the net fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed that amounted to $19,026. The value of the components within goodwill included expected revenue and cost synergies, exclusivity rights for transportation services, new customers and key personnel.

The purchase price allocation is preliminary and, as additional information becomes available, the Company may further revise the preliminary purchase price allocation during the remainder of the measurement period, which will not exceed 12 months from the acquisition date. Measurement period adjustments will be recognized in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The purchase price was allocated on a preliminary basis as follows:

Accounts receivable $ 1,307 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 190 
Property and equipment, net 143 
Identifiable intangible assets 28,861 
Operating right-of-use asset 11,913 
Other non-current assets 69 
Total identifiable assets acquired 42,483 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 1,003 
Operating lease liability 11,913 
Deferred revenue 492 
Total liabilities assumed 13,408 
Net assets acquired 29,075 
Goodwill 19,026 
Total consideration $ 48,101 

A preliminary assessment of the fair value of identified intangible assets and their respective lives as of the acquisition date are as follows:
Estimated Useful Life Fair Value
Exclusive rights to air transportation services 10 $ 25,975 
Customer list 3 2,886 
Total identifiable intangible assets $ 28,861 
Preliminary identified intangible assets in the table above are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives. The Company believes that the straight-line method of amortization is the most appropriate methodology as it is supported by the pattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible assets are consumed.

Unaudited Pro Forma Information

The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents what our results would have been had Blade Europe been acquired on January 1, 2021. The unaudited pro forma information presented below is for informational purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of our consolidated results of operations of the consolidated business had the acquisition actually occurred at the beginning of 2021 or of the results of our future operations of the consolidated business.

Three Months Ended September 30,
Nine Months Ended September 30,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Reported Revenue $ 45,722  $ 20,316  $ 107,985  $ 42,540 
Impact of Blade Europe 10,846  12,038  23,702  16,624 
Pro forma Revenue $ 56,568  $ 32,354  $ 131,687  $ 59,164 
The Company did not include net profit (loss) pro forma information as it is deemed impractical. Historical information was not available as the acquired companies have never operated as stand-alone businesses with the distribution and commercial transportation activities being operated by a different party than the operational activities. The pro forma profit (loss) of the acquired companies is based primarily on the hourly flying rates set annually with the Operators through the Europe AOA.  As this agreement did not exist prior to the acquisition, it is not possible to compute the pro forma profit (loss) for these entities.