Following a year-long search for potential buyers, Ohio-based electric vehicle manufacturer Workhorse has sold its electric-VTOL arm SureFly to the design and manufacturing group Moog.
The agreement was made for Workhorse to sell SureFly to Moog last month for $4 and the deal was closed on 27 November. Moog is acquiring all the assets of SureFly, its cash and cash equivalents, insurance policies and certain liabilities for the agreed price.
The first step of the deal saw Moog take ownership of the SureFly eVTOL aircraft and the related hybrid-electric power system technology. In the second part of the transaction, Moog also acquired 50% of Workhorse’s package delivery drone project HorseFly. Both parties will continue the project as a joint venture.
Moog has a presence in a diversity of manufacturing industries, and this acquisition appears to be its shoe-in into the drone and urban air mobility market with the acquisition of tried and tested aircraft technology.
Workhorse CEO Duane Hughes said: “Building strong relationships through partnerships and transactions with world-class operators like Moog has always been a key area of focus for our company. In selling SureFly, we have been able to monetize a secondary asset, which will provide us with additional working capital for our core business, which is the manufacturing of electric last-mile delivery vehicles.
“Through our HorseFly joint venture, we’re looking forward to taking another existing Workhorse technology and leveraging the experience and resources of an established enterprise to tackle new markets and create outcomes that are greater than just the sum of the parts.”
Workhorse timeline
Workhorse started development of the SureFly back in 2016, gaining a lead over many other budding eVTOL companies due to its experience of electric-propulsion technology. The SureFly design we know was revealed in November 2017.
The company is already well underway in its certification and development stages. Becoming the first eVTOL manufacturer to start the experimental certification process with the FAA in June 2018. However, the manufacturer wanted to bring its focus back to its core business – the development of its N-GEN electric delivery truck and W-15 electric pick-up truck, and this return to its roots largely prompted the idea to sell.
Workhorse first announced its intent to sell its VTOL brand in September last year when it struck a deal with investment bank B.Riley to manage the process and source buyers for SureFly.
