Two EV charging companies are coming together for an increased footprint, user base, and locations. On June 14, Blink Charging released an announcement about the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire SemaConnect, Inc. in North America.
The transaction is valued at $200 million and is subject to certain customary adjustments for working capital. The cash and common stock transaction will add nearly 13,000 EV chargers to Blink’s existing footprint, an additional 3,800 site host locations, and more than 150,000 registered EV driver members.
Blink will benefit from SemaConnect’s in-house research & development, hardware design, and manufacturing capabilities. SemaConnect’s manufacturing facility in Maryland will allow Blink to comply with the Buy American mandates and to position itself to significantly capitalize on the $7.5 billion Biden administration EV infrastructure bill and assist with the goal to build out the first national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers along America’s highways and in communities.
"This is a transformative acquisition for the EV charging industry and for Blink," said Michael D. Farkas, founder and CEO of Blink Charging. "SemaConnect is an established and well-known EV charging company with a proven track record of success, strong relationships with its site host partners in both the public and private sectors, and best-in-class technical capabilities."
Blink intends to transition SemaConnect’s chargers to a single network developed by a joint engineering team, which nearly doubles with this acquisition. The addition of the SemaConnect hardware will accelerate Blink’s expansion across multiple municipalities and geographies, including California, where SemaConnect chargers already comply with local requirements for swipe credit card functionality.
“SemaConnect has a robust hardware product line-up, which complements Blink’s extensive software product offerings," Farkas said. "This includes our multi-language and multi-currency network, allowing Blink to have an EV charging station for any location across more than 20 countries and expanding. In addition, we are particularly excited about the DCFC charger being developed by SemaConnect. These efforts allow Blink to significantly accelerate our DCFC speed to market while drastically reducing our R&D costs."
SemaConnect was founded in 2008 and offers Level 2 and DC fast chargers and charging-as-a-service. SemaConnect’s major customers include CBRE, JLL, Hines, Greystar, AvalonBay Communities, Cisco Systems, and General Electric, among others.
Blink Charging also recently acquired EB Charging and Blue Corner in Europe.
Mahi Reddy, founder and CEO of SemaConnect, is expected to join the Blink Board of Directors.
The SemaConnect acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
