EV charging firm Pod Point to float on London Stock Exchange
After a year of preparation, electric vehicle (EV) charging firm Pod Point announced today its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange by mid-November.
The company – which was acquired by energy giant EDF in February 2020 – is expected to have a premium listing with a 25 per cent free float. As a result of the initial public offering (IPO), the French provider will go from having a majority stake to a 50 per cent ownership.
“An IPO would be a massive milestone in Pod Point’s journey, enabling us to continue investing in our network, charge points, technology, and people, while helping us progress towards our goal of a Pod Point everywhere you park,” said Pod Point’s chief executive Erik Fairbairn.
The IPO will comprise a primary offer of new shares that will go to support the company’s growth plans.
Founded in 2009 by Fairbairn, in recent years Pod Point has acquired a 50 to 60 per cent share in the home charging market, coming in second place in the workplace charging market with a share between 10 and 20 per cent.
Fairbairn told City PM that there was not a better time for the company to go public, as the IPO will bring investment that the company will use to invest heavily and accelerate production.
“We really think electric vehicles are about to significantly take off in the UK,” Fairbairn told City PM
“It’s the perfect time to invest heavily in the charging infrastructure and make sure that we end up in a world where travel doesn’t damage the Earth.”
Fairbairn added that the IPO was also a massive vote of confidence on the market’s side, marking the first day in the company’s next phase. “Although Pod Point is nearly 13 years old, I think of the IPO almost as day one,” he said.
“This is Pod Point’s first part of the next phase where we massively scale up the amount of charging infrastructure just as electric vehicles are beginning to really capture the public’s imagination.”
Valued $3.8bn in 2019, the overall EV charging market is expected to reach around $25bn by 2027. According to Fairbairn, such an exponential growth was caused by a series of factors – including a decrease in EV prices and running costs as well the pressing need to tackle climate change.
“Looking back in the future, [we’ll ask] when electric vehicles really happened? And the answer will be about now when they suddenly took off,” Fairbairn concluded.