EDF pushes for Pod Point takeover
The takeover follows a challenging year for Pod Point, which said it faced a “difficult market backdrop” at the start of year. The firm, which operates more than 250,000 charge points across the UK, said it had struggled to make a profit in the face of disappointing EV adoption rates and an increase in competition. EDF currently owns 53-per cent of shares since becoming majority shareholder of Pod Point back in 2020, and Pod Point has reportedly been ‘consistently reliant’ on it for financial support. At the time, it marked EDF’s biggest ever investment in the e-mobility market.
EDF said that acquiring Pod Point outright will provide ‘long-term stability’ and has offered 6.5 pence per share, which gives the company a value of about £10.6 million. This is a significant drop from the 275p it peaked at following its IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2021. The buy out is still yet to be approved by the other shareholders, which includes Legal & General Capital and a number of other financial institutions.
Acquiring Pod Point will give EDF full ownership of a large charging network of more than 250,000 public and private chargers in the UK and more in other territories such as Norway and Ireland.
The vast majority of Pod Point’s chargers remain ‘destination chargers’, i.e. charging solutions installed at homes or workplaces. That includes the company’s eponymous product, the ‘Pod Point’, which is a home charger that can be bought with a one-off purchase of £849 or via a monthly subscription of £40 per month with a £99 installation fee. The company also provides a workplace charging service as well as charge point installation for public developments and partner company locations through its ‘Built Environment’ solution.
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