Boeing Sells Flying-Taxi Venture To Rival Archer Aviation, Takes Near 20% Stake

Archer Aviation shares surged in premarket trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing had agreed to take a nearly 20% stake in the eVTOL startup as part of a deal that transfers control of its autonomous flying-taxi venture, Wisk Aero, to Archer.

Archer will acquire Wisk, air-traffic software provider SkyGrid, and drone manufacturer Insitu. The 737 maker will receive warrants, gain the right to nominate a director to Archer's board, and retain access to Wisk's autonomous-flight technology. The transaction is expected to close later this year.

Brian Yutko, Boeing's vice president of Commercial Airplanes product development, told CNBC that the deal "allows Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to accelerate capability development and time to market while ensuring Boeing capitalizes on its investments in these technologies over the past two decades through continued development in our core businesses."

For Boeing, the transaction marks another divestiture under CEO Kelly Ortberg as the planemaker focuses on strengthening its core commercial-aircraft and defense businesses. Boeing previously invested $450 million in Wisk and has spent more than a decade developing its autonomous electric-flight technology.

For Archer, the deal strengthens its position in developing eVTOLs and the networks needed to support them. Insitu also helps Archer expand its military portfolio.

Archer CEO Adam Goldstein told CNBC that the deal "is the next big step forward in becoming a diversified platform, rapidly growing our revenue base and bringing scale to our business."

Shares of Archer jumped 20% in premarket trading. As of Friday's close, the stock was down 25% year to date. Short interest represents 15% of the float, equivalent to about 95 million shares.

The deal provides further evidence of Ortberg's turnaround plan to return Boeing to profitability, suggesting that efforts to streamline the aerospace giant could lead to additional divestitures.