EVBox Group To Go Public On NYSE
EV charging leader EVBox is the latest electric vehicle related company planning to go public. It intends to do so through TPG Pace Beneficial Finance (NYSE: TPGY.U, TPGY, TPGY WS).
Even so, ENGIE plans to retain 40+% ownership of EVBox Group. Additionally, institutional investors — including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Inclusive Capital Partners, Neuberger Berman Funds, and Wellington Management — intend to invest $225 million of equity through private placement at closing.
EVBox Group plans to be listed on the NYSE late in the first quarter of 2021.
As is the custom in 2020, this is a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) that EVBox will be going public through. TPG set up TPG Pace Beneficial Finance Corp. to focus on “high-growth companies with strong environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) principles.”
To dive into the specifics a bit, TPG Pace will acquire EV Charged B.V., a subsidiary of ENGIE New Business S.A.S., a wholly owned subsidiary of ENGIE S.A. (“Engie”), a multi-national utility with headquarters in France. Clear? TPG Pace will be providing a combination of cash and equity.
EVBox operates in North America, but it does not yet have a very large presence here. On the other hand, it has the largest installed base of EV charging stations in Europe, and “the most advanced cloud-based software offering.” Overall, more than 190,000 EVBox charge ports have been installed across 70 countries.
Part of the aim of this move, of course, is to raise capital to grow faster globally. However, the focus regions are still Europe and North America, and this partnership is specifically focused on hastening the US growth. EVBox also intends to “broaden its technology portfolio” — whatever that means. Perhaps it wants to delve into vehicle-to-grid tech more, or develop more power-level options charging. However, EVBox already offers a wide variety of EV chargers — from 3 kW to 350 kW — as well as smart cloud-based charging software.
“Following the transaction, EVBox expects to have more than $425 million of cash on its balance sheet, including a portion of the proceeds of TPG Pace’s fully committed Public Investment in Private Equity (“PIPE”) of $225 million, $100 million from TPG Pace’s Forward Purchase Agreements and $350 million of cash held in TPG Pace’s trust account.”
“TPG’s position as one the first movers in both SPACs and impact investing gives us a distinct advantage to help select purpose-driven and disruptive companies as they transition to the public equity markets. We believe that EVBox is a perfect fit with our investment thesis, and we are positioned to help accelerate the growth of this market-leading impact company by providing significant capital and capabilities to assist its mission. We look forward to collaborating with Kristof and the extremely talented EVBox team on the next phase of their growth story and using our network to help them expand on both sides of the Atlantic.” — Karl Peterson (TPG Pace Group)
We’ve been covering EVBox for several years, and I spoke at its first rEVolution conference and co-hosted the second. The company has impressed me for years and it has been fun to watch its growth and development. I presume $200+ million will be used very wisely by the company to help more people and communities electrify their transport.
I know almost nothing about TPG, but here’s its self-pitch: “TPG has had a long-standing commitment to fostering ESG performance in its portfolio and has grown The Rise Fund, its $5 billion impact investing platform, to become the largest of its kind in the private markets. The firm has an extensive track-record of identifying markets at inflection points and supporting disruptive high-growth companies poised to catalyze or accelerate structural changes in those markets. TPG also has deep experience transitioning companies from the private to public market, having taken 55 companies public over the past 10 years. With that expertise, the firm launched the TPG Pace Group in 2015 to sponsor SPACs and other permanent capital solutions for companies and has since successfully completed five SPAC IPOs to date.” While there is certainly a bit SPAC trend this year, TPG has been in the game for a long time, one of its purported leaders.
Here are a few more details on financial side of things: “The business combination values EVBox at an implied $969 million enterprise value. Upon transaction closing, and assuming no redemptions by TPG Pace stockholders, EVBox is expected to have approximately $425 million in cash, and a total pro-forma equity value of approximately $1.394 billion. … Cash proceeds raised in the transaction will be used to fund operations, support growth and notably acquire $180 million of equity from ENGIE.”
The company name after all is said and done will be EVBox Group, and it will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbols “EVB” and “EVB WS.”
More details are available from EVBox Group.
All images courtesy EVBox.
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