UK electric vehicle infrastructure provider Chargemaster is to acquire Elektromotive, the first company to introduce public electric vehicle charging stations in the UK nearly ten years ago, in a cash deal worth £8.5 million.
Together, Chargemaster and Elektromotive will become one of Europe’s leading providers of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and be in a position to take on the major players in the European market like Schneider in France and Siemens and RWE in Germany.
Chargemaster already has a strong sales base in France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to which Brighton-based Elektromotive will add its strengths in Belgium and other European countries.
In the UK, Chargemaster owns and operates the POLAR recharging network, which has a strong presence in London, the Southeast and the Midlands.
“The two companies target highly complementary sectors of the market and offer synergistic product ranges,” says Chargemaster CEO David Martell. “The enlarged group can now focus on growing its market share across Europe by producing the most technically advanced and value for money charging units on the market.”
Over the rest of the decade, the European electric vehicle charging market is expected to grow 20-fold to around €1.2 billion as most car manufacturers release an electric or hybrid plug-in model.
Chargemaster has already forged partnerships with carmakers Nissan, Renault, Vauxhall and Toyota, as well as energy companies British Gas and SSE.
The acquisition will go ahead subject to approval by the shareholders in Elektromotive’s Singapore-based holding company Elektromotive Group.
For further information:
www.chargemasterplc.com/
www.elektromotive.com/
Related stories:
Five UK cities to lead electric car boom, says research (26-Nov)
London trial giving away free charging points to electric vehicle drivers (31-Oct)
Updated: Chargemaster plugs Oxford into electric vehicle network (15-May)
Renault drives deal with Chargemaster to install chargers in Paris (1-Feb)
Article source: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/5636/
