Drake Star Partners Advises Greenflux On The Divestiture Of Its Charge Point Operating Division To Joulz

AMSTERDAM | April 1, 2020 – GreenFlux, an industry-leading provider of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging platforms and smart charging technology, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to sell its Charge Point Operator (CPO) and E-Mobility Service Provider (eMSP) division to Joulz, a 3i Infrastructure company. Joulz is a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. The divestiture allows GreenFlux to fully focus on the continued development of its EV charging platform and the international growth of the company.

In 2011 GreenFlux started offering EV charging infrastructure to EV drivers, fleets and building one of the first charging networks in the Netherlands. Today, GreenFlux is an international frontrunner in the EV market, offering software platform solutions to manage charging infrastructures for electric vehicles. The platform enables operators of charging infrastructure to remotely manage charge points, process transactions and utilize smart charging to adjust the charging speeds to the capacity of the electricity grid and local energy generation. Its products and services are offered to leading charge point operators, e-mobility service providers and companies of the utility, oil and gas and automotive industries over five continents.

Jurjen de Jong, Chief Executive Officer of GreenFlux, said: “We had 9 years of experience deploying smart charge points in the most advanced electric driving market in the world. We’ve applied this experience to help our platform customers, who want to optimize their operations by leveraging our smart EV charging platform. But now, GreenFlux is in an accelerated scale-up phase to roll out its platform across selected key markets in Europe, Asia and the United States. That is why we have decided to divest our CPO and eMSP division. The proceeds will fund GreenFlux towards the future and provide the means to focus on enhancing our EV charging platform and growing that business internationally. The new owner, Joulz, is ideally positioned to let this business grow further.”

This is the first acquisition executed by Joulz after its incorporation under 3i Infrastructure Group. The Dutch branch of the charge point operator will continue as Joulz Laadoplossing B.V. Its activities are predominantly situated in the Netherlands and concerns over 3,000 charging stations. The GreenFlux charging platform, which is excluded from the transaction, remains an integral part of the proposition. Thus compelling a close partnership between GreenFlux and Joulz Laadoplossingen B.V.

Jan Verheij, Chief Executive Officer of Joulz, said: ‘’The demand for electric transport is increasing rapidly. Not only is the growth in electric company cars increasing, but we see demand growing in the transport and public transport sector. This means that much more charging infrastructure is also needed. Through the acquisition, Joulz enhances its expertise to deliver this important part of the energy transition to our customers. We are entering the next growth phase with Joulz to realize our strategy: Joulz is turning ON new energy.’’

As a result of the transaction, Joulz has become an important customer of GreenFlux, utilizing the EV charging platform to manage their charging network in the Netherlands. Both parties will continue to closely work together.

Frank Verbeek, the Managing Partner of Drake Star Partners Amsterdam, added: “GreenFlux is an industry-leading EV charging solution provider. The company has a secure technology platform serving Charge Point Operators. On top, GreenFlux has founded a robust business unit executing Charge Point Operating services in the B2B segment and focussed on the larger & complex projects. The current market dynamics require additional focus and, therefore, GreenFlux decided to divest its Charge Point Operating business unit, including a portfolio of > 3.000 charge points. The divesture allows GreenFlux to continue its focused growth strategy and invest in its technology roadmap. Also, Joulz – as an energy transition infrastructure player – is a great strategic partner for GreenFlux’s technology platform.

We note that the combination Joulz & 3i Infrastructure is one of the first larger groups to enter the asset-heavy private charging domain. This transaction will be supportive for the Electric Vehicles uptake the coming years. We already see a lot of traction coming from various angles and players who experience the necessity to develop a more focussed strategy and build their sustainable ecosystem. With our well-developed market insights in this space, we believe we can add substantial value.”

Drake Star Partners team: Frank Verbeek, Bas Hendriks, Michael Wilhelm, Dominique Houde

Inquiries

For further inquiries, please contact:

Frank Verbeek or Bas Hendriks:
Frank.Verbeek@drakestar.com; Bas.Hendriks@drakestar.com

About GreenFlux

GreenFlux has been active in the international EV charging market for nine years and offers smart charging infrastructure solutions to manage EV charging networks globally. The mission of GreenFlux is to make electric driving a worldwide success by making it as easy as possible. Across Europe, GreenFlux has connected over 23,000 charge points to its smart technology platform. The company developed a white label and cloud-based platform to remotely manage charging points, process transactions and adjust the charging process to the capacity of the electricity grid and (local) energy generation. GreenFlux is active in +21 countries on five continents with an ecosystem of more than 130,000 charging points (including roaming) and more than 1.2 million EV drivers. The GreenFlux team consists of over 70 passionated professionals. Investors in GreenFlux are amongst others Eneco Group, SET Ventures and BOM Investments.

For more information, please visit www.greenflux.com

About Joulz

Joulz is a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. It leases essential energy infrastructure equipment and meters to a large and diversified customer base of industrial, commercial and public sector customers. It has two business units: Infrastructure Services and Metering. Infrastructure Services include designs, installs, leases and maintenance of electricity infrastructure such as transformers, switchgear and cables. The Metering business leases, operates and reads roughly 50,000 electricity and gas meters for non-household customers.
Joulz is set to benefit from the Dutch government’s commitment to decarbonise the economy, the ‘Energy Transition’, which is expected to increase electricity consumption and demand for Joulz’s equipment and services.
3i Infrastructure acquired Joulz Diensten B.V. in March 2019 for EUR 220mn from Stedin Holding NV, a Dutch distribution grid operator.

For more information, please visit www.joulz.nl/nl

About 3i Infrastructure

3i Infrastructure – a financial investor – invests into long-term infrastructure assets within multiple categories: utilities, natural resources/energy, social infrastructure, transportation/logistics, and communications. 3i Infrastructure invests across mid-market economic infrastructure and greenfield projects in developed markets, with a focus on the UK and Europe. The firm is based in the UK and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit www.3i.com