On Thursday, Vertical Aerospace, a developer of electric flying taxis, announced that it would be going public in New York after merging with a blank-check Special Purpose Acquisition Group (SPAC). This is the latest in the listing wave to bring more than $5 billion in enterprise value to the stock market.

Vertical Aerospace is going to merge with Broadstone Acquisition Corp, bringing approximately $394 million in gross proceeds to the company as well as to become publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange. On Friday, Broadstone shares traded higher by 0.5 percent and had earlier risen by about 3.5 percent in premarket trade.

The Broadstone deal should close by the second half of 2021. The group and its SPAC is valued at an enterprise value of $1.84 billion. The equity value is $2.2 billion based on a $10 per share price in private investment in public equity or PIPE.

Vertical Aerospace was founded by energy entrepreneur Stephen Fitzpatrick in 2016. It is a startup that is based in Bristol, England. It develops electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. These planes have fixed wings but perform in a way that is similar to a helicopter.

The planes from Vertical Aerospace can work in an urban milieu. They can be used as taxis for passengers, for medical evacuations and to carry cargo. Its flagship VA-X4 prototype is a low noise and zero emission electric flying taxi. It will be able to take five passengers at a speed of more than 100 miles and a maximum speed of 202 miles per hour.

The company said that Microsoft’s venture capital arm, American Airlines, Honeywell, and Rolls Royce were among its first PIPE investors. It also said that it has almost 1,000 preorders from American Airlines and aircraft leasing company Avalon for a value of almost $4 billion. It has also received a preorder option from Virgin Atlantic.

Vertical Aerospace said that it would make a profit as well as have stable cash flow if it showed annual sales of less than 100 flying taxis.

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