MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Blink Charging Co., an owner, operator and provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment and services, is acquiring SemaConnect Inc., a provider of EV charging infrastructure in North America, for $200 million 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.
With this acquisition, Blink Charging will be the only EV charging company to offer complete vertical integration from research, development and manufacturing to EV charger ownership and operations, it said.
Blink will benefit from SemaConnect’s in-house research and 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 capitalize on the $7.5 billion Biden administration EV infrastructure bill and assist with the administration’s goal to build out the first-ever national network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers along America’s highways and in communities. The acquisition will also position Blink to assist the administration’s development of a national EV charging network that provides interoperability among different charging companies, and is user-friendly, reliable and accessible to all Americans.
“This is a transformative acquisition for the EV charging industry and for Blink,” said Michael D. Farkas, founder and CEO of Blink Charging. “In addition, we are particularly excited about the direct current fast charging (DCFC) charger being developed by SemaConnect. These efforts allow Blink to significantly accelerate our DCFC speed to market while drastically reducing our research and development costs,” said Mr. Farkas.
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.
Founded in 2008, SemaConnect’s product lineup includes Level 2 and direct current (DC) fast chargers, and charging-as-a-service program. SemaConnect’s hardware and software reach a range of EV charging customers across municipal, parking, multifamily, hotel, office, retail and commercial in the United States and Canada.
“We are excited to join Blink as we charge ahead in transforming the EV charging industry with flexible, reliable and innovative solutions for customers around the globe,” said Mahi Reddy, founder and CEO of SemaConnect. Reddy is expected to join the Blink board of directors.
The SemaConnect acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
Miami Beach, Fla.-based Blink Charging specializes in EV charging equipment and has deployed more than 30,000 charging stations, many of which are networked EV charging stations, enabling EV drivers to charge at any of the company’s charging locations worldwide.
SemaConnect, based in Bowie, Md., is a provider of EV charging infrastructure to the North American commercial, residential and fleet market.
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