Air taxi firm Lilium’s shares plunge 61% after company says main subsidiaries will file for insolvency

Shares of Lilium tanked Thursday after the air taxi firm said in a filing that its two main subsidiaries will file for insolvency in the coming days.

The German aerospace startup’s shares plunged more than 60% following the news, then slightly pared its losses midday, only to return closer to its opening drop. The stock closed at a new 52-week low for the day, down 61% at roughly 20 cents per share.

In a U.S. regulatory filing, Lilium — which is listed on the Nasdaq — said it had not been able to raise sufficient additional funds to continue the operations of Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH, the firm’s two main subsidiaries.

As a result, the heads of these subsidiaries “determined that they are overindebted … and are or will become unable to pay their existing liabilities due … within the next few days,” Lilium said.

“The management of the Subsidiaries has informed the Company that they have to file for insolvency under German law and in doing so will apply for self-administration proceedings in Germany,” it added.

Lilium had tried and failed to persuade the federal government in Germany to supply it with state support. Lilium was seeking to raise 50 million euros ($54 million) of loans from the state coffers, however, its request was rejected by lawmakers.

In all, Lilium was trying to raise a convertible loan of 100 million euros. The proposed state aid would have been issued by KfW, the German state-owned development bank.

After being rejected by the federal government, Lilium continued separate conversations with the state of Bavaria in southeast Germany. It was seeking to raise at least 50 million euros from the Bavarian state.

However, on Thursday, Lilium said it had “not reached an agreement in principle” with Bavaria.

Once they have filed for insolvency, the subsidiaries will generally not have to repay any pre-application debt, Lilium said, adding that creditors typically will be “prohibited from foreclosing against the companies on any claims they may have.”

The subsidiaries’ planned insolvency filings could result in Lilium ultimately delisting from the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or having its shares suspended.