(Alliance News) - Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Monday said it has agreed to acquire ubitricity Gesellschaft fuer verteilte Energiesysteme mbH, the largest public electric vehicle charging network in the UK, for an undisclosed sum.
Energy and petrochemical firm Shell said the deal marks its expansion in the EV charging market, helping Shell scale its EV charging offer.
Shell's existing network already includes more than 1,000 ultra-fast and fast charging points at around 430 Shell retail sites. It also includes worldwide access to more than 185,000 third-party EV charging points in public locations, such as motorway service stations and forecourts.
The value of the deal for ubitricity, which works with local authorities to integrate EV charging into existing infrastructure like lamp posts and bollards, was not disclosed.
ubitricity was founded in Berlin, Germany and operated in a number of European countries. It is the UK's largest public EV charging network, having more than 2,700 charge points - a more than 13% market share.
Additionally, ubitricity has established emerging public charging positions in France and Germany, having installed more than 1,500 private charge points for fleet customers in Europe.
Istvan Kapitany, executive vice president of Shell Global Mobility, said: "Working with local authorities, we want to support the growing number of Shell customers who want to switch to an EV by making it as convenient as possible for them. On-street options such as the lamp post charging offered by ubitricity will be key for those who live and work in cities or have limited access to off-street parking."
"A" shares in Shell were down 1.2% at 1,403.20 pence in London on Monday morning, while "B" shares were down 1.3% at 1,341.60p.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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