Sustainable energy company GRIDSERVE has secured an investment worth £200m from Infracapital – the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Plc, a leading European savings and investments business – to support its sustainable energy mission on the scale needed to move the needle on climate change.
The investment enables the Buckinghamshire-based business to deliver over 5,000 High Power Chargers in the next three years across both Electric Super Hubs and Electric Forecourts. It will also help provide GRIDSERVE’s plans to expand the development of its hybrid solar farms to generate and deliver net zero energy for its network as well as its car leasing business.
Infracapital’s initial investment complements the continuing multi-million-pound partnership with financial services company, Mitsubishi HC Capital UK Plc and TPG Rise – TPG’s global impact investing platform, which has also increased its shareholding in the company as part of the Infracapital transaction.
“Their [Infracapital’s] commitment to clean tech, infrastructure, and ESG gives our collective organisations deep-rooted synergies around a shared mission. Investment in the future of our planet has never been so important and the IPCC’s latest dire warnings solidify the reality that we are in last chance territory, and we, therefore, need to take action as quickly as possible,” said Toddington Harper, GRIDSERVE’s chief executive.
“This investment partnership will enable GRIDSERVE to continue to rise to this challenge and deliver maximum impact without delay.”
The investment would accelerate GRIDSERVE’s plans to further the company’s pioneering ‘Sun-to-Wheel’ model, which encompasses generating energy through hybrid solar farms, distributing energy through an award-winning national charging network of Electric Forecourts and Electric Hubs, and accelerating the uptake of electric vehicles with leasing a wide range of the latest electric vehicles.
Commenting on the partnership, Andy Matthews, the head of greenfield at Infracapital, said GRIDSERVE is leading the charge in the “decarbonisation of the UK’s transport system” and is led by an experienced management team that has already made significant progress in expanding GRIDSERVE’s platform.”
GRIDSERVE’s national public charging network called Electric Highway is a leading network covering 85% of the UK’s motorway service areas and some of the UK’s busiest retail destinations. It is already successfully charging over 100,000 electric vehicles every month.