EO Charging: A VALUATION OF $675 MILLIONS
EO Charging is an electric car charging startup that powers Amazon’s UK delivery trucks. It has agreed to merge with a US SPAC (First Reserve) and will go public at the end of this year. First Reserve and EO expect to close their deal in the fourth quarter and list on Nasdaq with the stock symbol EOC.
« First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp. is a newly organized SPAC company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more companies. The Company intends to identify opportunities and businesses that focus on solutions, processes and technologies that facilitate, enhance or complement the ongoing transition to a more sustainable and environmentally responsible global energy, infrastructure and industrial complex. »
The two companies said the combined enterprise value that will be involved is $675 million. The deal will net EO more than $150 million in cash.
In 2014, CEO Charlie Jardine founded EO in Suffolk in his grandfather’s barn piggery at the age of 24. The company has deployed around 50,000 loaders in over 35 countries/regions and provides services to fleet operators including Amazon, Tesco and Uber Technologies.
EO provides its customers with hardware, software, installation, service and maintenance services. For example, its pan-European contract with Amazon includes software and services in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Ireland. The company can send an engineer to any Amazon site in these countries in about 90 minutes.
Last year, EO recorded a positive EBIDTA, said Jardine. The company has about 130 employees and is only « scratching the surface of Europe », its main markets historically being the UK, Ireland and Norway. After substantial expansion in Europe, the company will consider entering other markets, including the US.
« Governments across Europe and elsewhere, and boardrooms across Europe and the US, are really driving fleet electrification, » said First Reserve CEO Neil Wizel.
EO’s charging model :
Charly Jardine, CEO of charging model :
EO was ranked 27th on the Financial Times FT1000 list of the fastest growing European companies. EO is backed by sustainable infrastructure investor Zouk Capital, which is also the manager of the UK Government’s Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund.
First Reserve Sustainable Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FRSG) is a SPAC company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more companies. FRSG’s objective is to identify opportunities and companies that focus on solutions, processes and technologies that facilitate, enhance or complement the ongoing transition to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly global energy, infrastructure and industrial complex.
First Reserve, a sponsor of FRSG, is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investing in the diversified energy, infrastructure and general industrial end markets. Founded in 1983, First Reserve has 38 years of industry experience and has cultivated a network of global relationships. First Reserve has raised over $32 billion in global capital since its inception. Its investment and operating experience is based on more than 700 transactions, including platform investments and add-on acquisitions, on six continents. The firm’s portfolio companies have operated globally in more than 60 countries and span the entire energy and industrial spectrum.
