Lilium board approves application for self-administration of German units

Lilium (LILM) N.V. announced that its principal German subsidiaries will apply for self-administration proceedings in the next few days with the competent court in Germany. This follows a lengthy and complex government approval process for a loan from KfW, which failed in the Budget Committee of the German parliament. Lilium’s international competition is receiving grants and loans in the U.S., France, China, Brazil, and the UK. Therefore, German government support was seen by Lilium investors as critical to retain market confidence and potential future investment. “Our plan was to obtain shareholder investment in a new funding round anchored by a German government backed loan of EUR 100 million,” Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe said. “We had already conditionally secured additional private capital to complement the KfW loan. However, the Budget Committee was unable to agree on the loan and Bavaria couldn’t do it alone.” German government support of the KfW loan was a closing condition to already committed private funding and without this support Lilium was left with no alternative but to cause the principal German subsidiaries to file for self-administration. Lilium was also in advanced discussions regarding a French government guarantee of a EUR 219M loan to finance a battery factory and an assembly line in the Southwest of France. Following the Lilium Jet’s planned first flight in early 2025, Lilium anticipated receiving pre-delivery payments and new investment to finance the company into 2026 when the company expected delivery would begin on its current order pipeline consisting of firm orders, reservations, options, and memoranda of understanding for more than 780 Lilium Jets to operators in the U.S., South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.