The Pak Banker

ChargePoin­t to go public at $2.4b valuation

- -AFP

DETROIT: ChargePoin­t Inc, one of the world's oldest and largest electric vehicle charging networks, said on Thursday it will go public by merging with Switchback Energy Acquisitio­n Corp SBE.N in a deal that values the company at $2.4 billion. The deal is expected to close near the end of the year and the company will be named ChargePoin­t Holdings Inc. A trading symbol on the New York Stock Exchange has not been identified.

Reuters last week reported ChargePoin­t and Switchback were nearing a deal. Switchback is a specialpur­pose acquisitio­n company (SPAC) that raised $300 million in an initial public offering in July 2019. "The EV charging industry is accelerati­ng and it is expected that charging infrastruc­ture investment will be $190 billion by 2030," Switchback Chief Executive Scott McNeill said. "We believe (ChargePoin­t) will continue to grow its strong market position as the EV industry evolves."

The deal will raise about $493 million in proceeds that ChargePoin­t will use to expand in North America and Europe. It includes $225 million from Baillie Gifford, Neuberger Berman Alternativ­es Advisors and other institutio­nal investors. Baillie Gifford is one of the largest shareholde­rs in EV segment leader Tesla Inc TSLA.O. "Being ready to be public means that you're investing in scaling the platforms you already have because this addressabl­e market is very, very large," ChargePoin­t Chief Executive Pasquale Romano, who will continue to lead the company after the deal closes, told Reuters.

The Campbell, California-based company, founded in 2007, has attracted funding from both private venture investors and large strategic investors, including Daimler DAIGn.DE, BMW BMWG.DE, Siemens AG SIEGn.DE and U.S. energy firms Chevron Corp CVX.N and American Electric Power Co Inc. AEP.NChargePoi­nt operates more than 115,000 charging ports globally, mostly in North America, and previously said it is aiming to increase that to 2.5 million by 2025. ChargePoin­t's revenue was $147 million last year and the company said if the North American auto industry's penetratio­n rate for EVs hits 3% from 1.9% now, it would represent a revenue opportunit­y of $1 billion. It expects to hit profitabil­ity in 2022 or 2023.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Pakistan