Archer Aviation has agreed to acquire Boeing subsidiaries Wisk Aero, Insitu, and SkyGrid in exchange for newly issued Archer shares and additional warrants. Boeing will receive shares equal to 19.75% of Archer’s outstanding stock immediately before closing, giving it an approximately 16.5% stake after those shares are issued.
The agreement brings Wisk, a former legal rival of Archer, under the same company three years after the two electric aircraft developers settled a trade secret dispute. It also adds Insitu’s unmanned aircraft business and SkyGrid’s digital airspace and traffic management software to Archer’s operations.
According to Archer’s official announcement, the three businesses have accumulated nearly two million combined flight hours. Insitu alone operates across 35 countries and generates more than $200 million in annual revenue.
Boeing Takes a Strategic Stake in Archer
An SEC filing shows Boeing will also receive two warrants, each covering $100 million worth of Archer stock. One carries a $13 exercise price and the other $17.88, with different exercise periods beginning one year after the transaction closes.
Boeing and Archer will also enter a technology-sharing arrangement that allows Boeing to retain access to Wisk’s autonomous flight technology for future commercial and defense aircraft. Boeing said the agreement allows it to retain financial exposure to the businesses while directing more investment toward its main operations.
Deal Follows Years of Legal Conflict
Wisk sued Archer in April 2021, accusing the company of stealing confidential information and intellectual property. Archer later sought $1 billion in damages through a counterclaim before both sides settled their disputes in 2023.
That settlement also started a commercial relationship between the companies. Archer agreed to use Wisk as its exclusive provider of autonomous technology, while Wisk received an option to buy up to 13,176,636 Archer shares for $0.01 each.
Wisk traces its history to Kittyhawk, the electric aviation startup led by Sebastian Thrun and backed by Google co-founder Larry Page. Its Cora autonomous air taxi program became a joint venture with Boeing in 2019, later renamed Wisk, before Boeing took full ownership in 2023.
Archer has meanwhile expanded beyond its Midnight electric air taxi program into defense. The company raised $430 million in 2024 for Archer Defense, another $300 million in 2025, and partnered with Anduril on hybrid VTOL aircraft for commercial and defense uses.
Earlier this month, Archer completed a piloted round-trip Midnight flight between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport. The company is preparing for operations later this year under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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