Financing and M&A activity in the EV charging space

In the continuous race among EV-related firms to go public by merging with SPACs, there have been a few shocks (at least in my opinion) in the last few weeks (special purpose acquisition companies). You may read my December post on EV SPACs and see our table of public EV and AV firms or SPACs that are in the process of shutting.

I anticipated Proterra to combine with QELL, didn't have Faraday Future on my radar, the timing of the EVgo acquisition surprised me, and I believed Volta Charging would go the SPAC path rather than raise another round of money. However, diverse sources of finance appear to be often acquired alongside or shortly before a SPAC.

I discovered nine important EV-related agreements (IPOs, SPAC mergers, financing, and acquisitions) announced in January 2021, totaling $6.415 billion. (Terms of the Shell/ubitricity contract were not released.) Lucid Motors received some news and an update from the Saudi PIF fund director on its potential SPAC or IPO.

 

IPOs and SPAC Mergers

Climate Change Crises (CLII) To Merge with EVgo - On January 22, fast-charging network EVgo announced that it will become a publicly-traded corporation through a merger with the Climate Change Crises SPAC. Details of the agreement include (via MarketWatch):

·         The deal is expected to generate $575 million in revenue for EVgo.

·         The combined firm is worth $2.6 billion.

·         The transaction is scheduled to finalize in the second quarter of 2021.

·         The combined firm will be known as EVgo Inc.

·         The stock will be denoted by the ticker symbol "EVGO."

Proterra To Merge With ArcLight Clean Transition Corp., (ACTC) SPAC - Burlingame, CA electric bus producer Proterra is going public through a SPAC merger with ArcLight Clean Transition Corp., and the deal is estimated to raise $825 million in cash and have an enterprise value of $1.6 billion.

The deal includes $415 million in private investment in public stock commitments headed by Daimler Trucks, as well as Franklin Templeton, Chamath Palihapitiya, Fidelity Management & Research, and funds and accounts managed by private equity company BlackRock. Kleiner Perkins, Daimler, Generation Investment Management, Tao Capital Partners, Soros Fund Management, Cowen Sustainable Advisors, GM Ventures, and utility Exelon's Constellation power retailing subsidiary have together contributed $682 million to the startup.

The transaction is planned to conclude in the first half of 2021, and upon completion, Proterra will trade under the ticker code PTRA. - GreenTech Media

Faraday Future to Merge With Property Solutions Acquisition (PSA) - This acquisition caught me off guard because it is a mix of a real estate focused SPAC and the faltering luxury EV company Faraday Future. Property Solutions contributes around $230 million in cash, with an additional $775 million provided through a PIPE (private investment in public equity) backed by outside investors. Faraday is projected to earn around $750 million after fees and expenditures. - Motley Fool

FREYR, a Norway-based developer of battery cell production capacity, will merge with SPAC, Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp. to become a publicly traded company through a business combination with Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp. (Source: press release)

·         The merged firm will be called "FREYR Battery" and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol "FREY" upon completion.

·         As part of the transaction, FREYR will gain about $850 million in equity funding, allowing the company to accelerate the building of up to 43 GWh of clean battery cell manufacturing capacity in Norway by 2025.

·         The transaction includes a fully committed PIPE of $600 million.

·         The merged company's pro forma equity worth would be around $1.4 billion.

 

While there was no official word on the suspected SPAC transaction between Lucid Motors and Churchill Capital Corp. IV (CCIV), the president of the Saudi PIF that holds a majority stake in Lucid, told CNBC that the Newark-based company's board was debating whether to execute a traditional IPO or combine with a SPAC. There are also indications that the PIF is in talks with Lucid about establishing a production plant in Jeddah, which might postpone the IPO versus SPAC decision.

 

Funding/Investments

Rivian Raises $2.65 Billion - Rivian, the maker of the R1T electric truck, R1S SUV, and Amazon delivery van, has raised another $2.65 billion, bringing the total raised since the beginning of 2019 to $8 billion. The round was led by T. advised money and accounts. Rowe Price Associates Inc.'s other investors included Fidelity Management and Research Company, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Coatue and D1 Capital Partners, as well as a number of other current and new investors.

According to a person familiar with the funding round, Rivian is now valued at $27.6 billion. – TechCrunch

T. and Coatue Rowe Price Funds Lead $590M Investment in Sila Nanotechnologies - Sila Nanotechnologies, situated in Alameda, California, announced a $590 million Series F fundraising round at a $3.3 billion post-money value. Sila Nano will utilize the funding to commence construction of a new 100 GWh factory in North America to create its silicon-based anode material and serve smartphone and automotive clients. The business, which has collaborations with BMW and Daimler, plans to begin manufacturing at the new factory in 2024 and to power electric vehicles by 2025. - Press release from Sila Nanotechnologies

FreeWire Technologies Raises $50 Million in Series C Fundraising - FreeWire Technologies, a San Leandro, California-based supplier of electric vehicle (EV) charging and power solutions, has secured $50 million in a Series C funding round. The money will be used to speed the international market expansion of its main product, Boost ChargerTM, as well as boost production capacity. - FinSMEs

Volta Trucks Completes $20M Round - Volta Trucks, a London-based maker of electric commercial vehicles, has completed a $20 million convertible debt investment round. Luxor Capital, a New York-based investment business, led the fundraising. - Volta Trucks and GreenCarCongress

Volta Charging Raises $125 Million - Goldman Sachs-managed advertising-based charging network Volta has raised $125 million in additional investment. Volta has now collected more than $200 million in capital and plans to utilize the funds to begin growing abroad. – TechCrunch

Acquisitions

Shell to Acquire Ubitricity, UK Charging Network - On January 25, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it will acquire ubitricity, the owner of the UK's largest public on-street electric car charging network, for an unknown sum. The transaction for the firm, which has over 2,700 on-street charging outlets in the country, is anticipated to close late this year. - According to Reuter

 

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Event Name: EV Charging Infracstructure Forum

Event Date: 22nd - 23rd February, 2023

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