Electric vehicle charge point operator RAW Charging has completed a growth capital fundraise that will support its £250m EV charger installation plan. The raise was funded by Antin Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments.
Antin has invested in order to help RAW accelerate delivery of its pipeline, targeting installation of 10,000 charging points in the next three years.
RAW is expecting to have more than 1,000 charging points operating by December 2022. The business is developing a network of destination EV chargers, for blue chip customers, such as Aviva Investors, abrdn, Greene King and McArthurGlen.
Rodolphe Brumm and Leonardo Adami, Antin Infrastructure Partners, will join the board of RAW Charging, providing additional expertise to its experienced board of directors
In order to meet the huge demand for public chargers, RAW is operating in the underserved, high-growth destination EV charging marketplace. The Company has established a network of EV charging infrastructure assets to enable EV drivers to charge their vehicles at their destinations, typically at workplace, leisure facility or transport hub carparks.
The group has a pipeline of 4,000 sites as it seeks to rapidly roll-out destination charging to meet the UK public’s needs.
RAW has recently acquired Franklin EV, adding 128 EV charging points and a further 370 managed chargers to the RAW asset base, which is expected to reach more than 1,000 charging points by December 2022.
Bruce Galliford, chief executive at Wetherby-based RAW Charging, said: “With the fantastic growth over the last four years, thanks to the hard work of the brilliant RAW team, it is perfect timing to move on to the next stage with Antin joining us on the journey.
“The market for destination charging is growing and supported by policy in both the UK and Europe. We believe our business model is perfectly placed to generate captive returns for our investors from a large portfolio of EV assets and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our growth plans.”
Rodolphe Brumm, NextGen partner at Antin, added: “This new investment signals Antin’s strong commitment to advancing the use of electric vehicles, thus contributing to reducing carbon emissions.
“We firmly believe the private sector, alongside government, will play a key role in realising the UK’s ambitious electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, which includes the aim to reach 300,000 public EV charge points by 2030. We look forward to working with RAW’s management team to help transition the UK transport sector to low carbon by the decade’s end in line with our NextGen strategy.”
Jonathan Turner, chief executive at Bayford Group, said: “We are pleased to have Antin join Bayford as an investor for the next stage of RAW’s growth. Bayford, alongside Antin and the board of directors, are excited for the opportunities ahead as RAW delivers on this once-in-a-generation electric vehicle charging opportunity.”
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner acted as legal advisor to RAW and its current shareholders, with Longspur Capital acting as their financial adviser.
