Finnish energy conglomerate Fortum has agreed to sell the majority of its public charging network operator Fortum Recharge to Infracapital, a subsidiary of investment manager M&G. Fortum Recharge owns approximately 1,300 public chargers, mostly DC fast chargers, and operates an additional 1,400 charging points in Norway, Finland and Sweden. After the transaction Fortum’s ownership in Recharge will be 37%.

Fortum will continue to own and operate its EV charging customer interface under its Charge & Drive and Plugsurfing brands, and will also continue to provide software as a service (SaaS) for operating EV charging infrastructure and customer interfaces to other charging operators.

Drake Star Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Fortum on the transaction.

“This transaction is another clear example of how the sector is evolving,” said Frank Verbeek, Managing Partner at Drake Star Amsterdam. “After years of seeing the market developed by entrepreneurs and first-mover companies, we now experience serious interest from large infrastructure funds, who recognize EV charging as a very attractive asset class, and can invest vast amounts on the basis of increasingly secure revenues.”

Source: Fortum