Porsche Invests in ABB’s Electric-Vehicle Charging Business – EQ Mag
ABB Ltd.’s electric-vehicle charging business has raised additional funds from minority investors including Porsche SE and General Atlantic in a second and final round before listing the division.
The division, ABB E-Mobility, sold a 12% stake for 325 million Swiss francs ($355 million) to General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero climate fund, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, UK-based investment firm Just Climate and Porsche AG’s holding Porsche SE, according to a statement Wednesday.
The value of the company remains 2.5 billion Swiss francs, the same as in the previous pre-IPO placement round.
In November, ABB sold an 8% stake for about 200 million francs to equity fund Interogo Holding AG, family office Moyreal Holding AG and ABB E-mobility Chairman Michael Halbherr.
The private placements, which now amount to 525 million francs in funding, will be used to grow the charging business, as the Swiss conglomerate still pursues plans for a listing.
ABB, which maintains a 80% holding, in June delayed an IPO of the unit that was set to raise $750 million because of the market rout. The industrials company offers a range of chargers and related installation and maintenance services, used by operators like Ionity GmbH and Electrify America.
“ABB remains committed to our strategy to separately list our E-mobility business subject to constructive market conditions,” ABB Chief Executive Officer Björn Rosengren said in a statement.
ABB has been streamlining its business to boost profitability, following pressure from shareholders. In January, it sold its power-conversion unit to Taiwan’s AcBel Polytech for $505 million. In October, the company’s Accelleron turbocharging business started trading on the Swiss stock exchange following a spin off.
“We expect the demand for charging equipment to continue to grow rapidly in the coming years”, said Lutz Meschke, Porsche SE investment board member and chief financial officer of Porsche AG. “As a leading provider of charging solutions for electric vehicles, ABB E-mobility will significantly participate in this market growth.”
Source: Bloomberg
