US-based TPG Pace Beneficial Finance Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, has entered into a definitive agreement with ENGIE New Business S.A.S. – a wholly-owned subsidiary of ENGIE S.A., to acquire its subsidiary EV Charged B.V. – which operates as EVBox – for a combination of cash and equity.
The transaction
This development is expected to provide EVBox with significant growth capital to expand its reach globally, with a focus on Europe and North America, and to broaden its technology portfolio. According to the company, cash proceeds raised in the transaction will be used to notably pay cash consideration of up to $180M (approx €148.2M) to ENGIE.
The ENGIE Group is a France-based global energy player with businesses in the areas of renewable energy, gas, and services. It’s turnover in 2019 was €60.1B and has nearly 170,000 employees. The group is listed on the Paris and Brussels stock exchanges (ENGI).
Following the transaction, the deal will create a combined entity, EVBox Group, with a valuation of about $1.39B (approx €1.14B). It will give EVBox an implied enterprise value of $969M (approx €798M). ENGIE, which acquired EVBox in 2017, will retain a stake of more than 40%.
EVBox Group will be listed on the NYSE by late Q1 2021. “Its common shares and warrants are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the ticker symbols “EVB” and “EVB WS” Upon closing, EVBox will have a nine-person board and a majority of independent directors,” says the company in its press release.
President and CEO of EVBox Group Kristof Vereenooghe, says, “For over a decade, EVBox has been a pioneer in the electric vehicle charging industry, developing and launching innovative software propositions along with award-winning charging stations. We are now scaled for further global expansion and to take a leading role in the anticipated acceleration of EV adoption as we work towards a future where everyday transportation is electric, emission-free, and sustained by a clean charging infrastructure.”
Following the transaction, EVBox expects to have more than $425M (approx €350M) in cash on hand, including a portion of the proceeds of TPG Pace’s Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) of $225M (approx €185.2M), raised from investors including Wellington Management, funds managed by BlackRock Inc. and Neuberger Berman, as well as Inclusive Capital Partners.
About TGP
TPG is a leading global alternative asset firm founded in 1992 with approximately $85B (approx €70B) of assets under management and offices in Austin, Beijing, Fort Worth, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, and Washington, DC.
TPG Pace Group is TPG’s dedicated permanent capital platform. According to the group, it has sponsored five special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) and raised more than $3B (approx €2.47B) since 2015. The group had raised $350M in its October 2020 IPO in order to acquire targets that have strong environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) principles and practices.
What is EVBox?
Founded in 2010, EVBox provides smart and scalable charging infrastructure and charging management software to electric vehicles around the world.
The company offers a portfolio of both hardware and enterprise software solutions and claims to have built the industry’s largest installed base of EV charging solutions, with more than 190,000 charge ports across 70 countries.
EVBox’s open architecture SaaS platform, Everon, serves as the backbone by offering a cloud-native, charging management solution that can support both EVBox and third-party hardware. The Everon software enables new monetisation opportunities for charging station owners, supports dynamic load management, and enables integration with other software via APIs.
In addition, EVBox’s offering also includes a suite of AC level 2 and DC fast and ultra-fast, smart charging stations, ranging from 3 to 350 kW. The company’s growth is driven by sales of equipment as well as recurring-revenue software subscriptions, services, and transaction processing fees.
In March 2020, EVBox had expanded its business by joining Illinois Clean Air Now (ICAN), a coalition of clean energy, health advocacy, and transportation industry stakeholders from Illinois and across the country.