Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
One of the smaller publicly traded EV charging startups plans to buy EV infrastructure provider SemaConnect.
Why it matters: The planned purchase by Blink Charging (Nasdaq: BLNK) would expand the company's footprint as it races to keep up with far larger competitors.
Driving the news: Blink is buying SemaConnect for $200 million in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close in June.
- Blink has committed $40 million in cash upfront with a $40 million deferred cash consideration, according to documents filed with the SEC.
- The remainder of the deal — $120 million — will come through Blink common stock.
- The total deal value represents a third of Blink's market cap, which ranks sixth behind Tesla, ChargePoint, EVgo, Allego and Wallbox.
The details: With the purchase, Blink will reportedly gain 13,000 EV chargers across roughly 1,800 charging sites, as well as roughly 150,000 members.
- Blink generated roughly $21 million in revenue in 2021, according to the documents. SemaConnect generated $12 million in revenue over the same time period.
Of note: SemaConnect's in-house manufacturing in Maryland will enable Blink to comply with Buy American, the company says.
Reality check: Blink's stock price has fallen nearly 50% since the start of the year.
- It's down 73% since its peak of about $53.35 in February 2021.
- The company's stock price was holding mostly steady Tuesday morning following the SemaConnect announcement.