What happened
Shares of helicopter rideshare platform Blade Air Mobility (BLDE -5.28%) climbed as much as 15% on Thursday morning after the company announced plans to acquire a medical transport operation. The deal is a small one, but investors like the potential for it to add to revenue.
So what
Blade is a helicopter transport service that went public in May via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The company currently offers transportation in and around New York City, but has ambitions to round out its offerings and expand nationwide.
Image source: Getty Images.
On Thursday, Blade announced it intends to acquire Trinity Air Medical for $23 million upfront plus potential later add-ons. Trinity is a nationwide medical transport operator, and Blade said that post-merger it would be the largest dedicated organ air transport arranger in the U.S.
Trinity is also profitable, according to Blade, on revenue of about $16 million in calendar year 2020.
"Trinity's long-term relationships with organ procurement organizations and transplant centers are a testament to their high-touchpoint approach to organ air transportation, providing seamless solutions for their clients, a perfect fit with Blade's culture of 24/7 availability and mission redundancy," Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal said in a statement. "Given the existence of landing pads at most hospitals today, we have the ability to immediately replace Trinity's ambulances with helicopters on certain hospital-to-hospital missions, while preparing for a transition to both existing 'last-mile' cargo drones as well as Electric Vertical Aircraft, as soon as they become available."
Now what
Investors taking a flier on Blade are likely drawn to the potential of the company one day operating electric aircraft to shuttle customers around traffic-packed urban cityscapes and perhaps providing an attractive alternative to get to the airport for a longer flight. While that is still the long-term plan, it can't hurt to diversify revenue streams and grow the total addressable market.
Medical transport is a real, sustainable business and one that could desperately use new options to allow for ambulances to avoid those same traffic-clogged streets. Blade in buying Trinity gives itself a lot more optionality and new ways to make money, and investors are cheering as a result.
