Archer Aviation shares rise after air taxi group settles Boeing, Wisk lawsuits

Investing.com -- Shares in Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) rose on Friday after the air taxi group announced that it had settled litigation with jet maker Boeing (NYSE:BA) and its Wisk Aero division.

Wisk, which is also developing small electric aircraft that can take off vertically and fly like planes, had previously filed a lawsuit against Archer, alleging that two former engineers had stolen proprietary information when they left to work for Archer. San Jose-based Archer later claimed that it was the victim of a "smear campaign" by Wisk.

But the companies said in a joint statement that they had now agreed to collaborate on autonomous flight technology. Under the terms of the deal, Boeing agreed to invest an undisclosed amount into Archer. In return, Wisk will become Archer's sole provider of self-flying technology.

Along with Boeing's investment, Archer said it had also raised $215 million in funding from United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL), automaker Stellantis (NYSE:STLA), and other financial institutions include ARK Investment Management. The company said its total funding to date now stands at more than $1.1 billion.

Archer also said that it had received approval from U.S. aviation regulators to launch flight testing of its "Midnight" production aircraft. The firm is currently working to secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin commercial operations in 2025.