Arriva Group has announced I Squared Capital, a prominent infrastructure investor, has fully acquired it from Deutsche Bahn. This includes all of Arriva’s businesses across 11 countries, with all operations continuing to run smoothly with little or no disruption. The Arriva Group has a portfolio of different services, that include buses, trains, coaches, trams, waterbuses, bike-sharing systems, on-demand transport solutions and a rolling stock leasing company. I Squared has a strong track record of supporting management teams in improving operational performance and we believe Arriva Group will benefit from this.
Elli (Volkswagen's EV charging unit) has announced it is partnering with Otovo (Norwegian residential solar and battery storage company) to offer Huawei products. These products will allow customers to connect their EVs with solar and storage systems at home to cut power bills. Due to this partnership, EV charging costs can be decreased by c40% for customers. This partnership will prop up Elli’s wall box services while Otovo will be exposed to the client base of Europe's largest carmaker.
As the UK general election (4th of July) nears, parties are starting to publish their manifestos and the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) have made bus reform a pertinent point. If elected, the Lib Dems intend to increase bus franchising powers for local authorities. Furthermore, the party is committing to keeping the £2 bus fare cap grant in England, outside of London. The party would work with bus operators to help introduce a Young Person’s Buscard, which would give 19-25-year-olds a third off bus and tram fares. We champion these ideas and look forward to how other party’s manifestos will help accelerate the deployment of zero-emission vehicles in the bus sector.
The European Commission, which launched an anti-subsidy investigation last year, is expected to announce the tariffs it will impose on Chinese EVs later this week. Analysts have pencilled in a tariff range of 10-25% however interestingly this investigation will continue until October, thus allowing potential time for a deal to be struck between Brussels and Beijing. Many automakers in Europe are more concerned by the potential retribution from these tariffs. Many OEMs, particularly German ones, heavily rely on sales in China. Rho Motion published an insightful article that stated that Chinese EV OEMs could absorb up to a 30% trade tariff and still maintain a profitability rate comparable to their domestic market. However, it stressed that any provocation that may lead to a trade war would devastate the EU region as it is dependent on Chinese-dominated (EV) supply chains.
According to The Times, Volvo is shifting the manufacturing of Chinese-made EVs to Belgium due to the impending tariffs the EU is set to impose. Bear in mind, that Volvo is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and is arguably the most exposed among Western automakers to the potential tariffs. The Belgium plant will produce the OEMs EX30 and EX90 models and may in time move production for some models intended for the UK market over to the plant.
Sunwoda Electric Vehicle Battery Co (Sunwoda EVB) is exploring the idea of switching its potential IPO from Shenzhen to Hong Kong. This consideration is being driven by the laborious approval process that Shenzhen requires of all potential listing companies. To recap, Sunwoda EVB submitted its application to ChiNext Market last year however progress has been slow. The ChiNext Market is China’s version of the Nasdaq and is a subsidiary of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange however in recent years it has increased its scrutiny of new company listings. Hong Kong has the benefit of being an established international financial hub thus it is easier for securities to be traded in Hong Kong dollars.
Altilium and Enva have announced a strategic partnership, by signing a MoU, that will enhance the collection and recycling of EV batteries across the UK. This partnership is a boost for the UK circular economy for battery minerals and we champion this union. Enva will provide nationwide collection services, while Altilium will handle the recycling process using its EcoCathode technology, which allows for the recovery of over 95% of battery metals.
Deals
Qargo, a Belgium-based transport (and logistics) management system startup, has raised c£11m in a Series A round which was led by Balderton Capital. This startup’s solution aims to automate back-office tasks, such as auto-import PDFs, automate address lookups and optimise routes to reduce distances. It does this by integrating with (legacy) customer systems and it can process orders up to 10x faster than traditional tools. Qargo has been adopted by companies, such as Altrea Group and Uniserve Group. In March (2024) its software solution enabled 175,000 journeys, averaging more than 3,000 trucks a day, and its customers processed more than £35m in invoiced revenue. The capital raised will be used to expand into new international territories, product development and increase its workforce.
Neural Concept, a Swiss-based AI and engineering startup, has raised $27m in a Series B funding round. This round was led by Forestay Capital, with Alven, Constantia New Business, HTGF and Aster Group also participating. This startup focuses on utilising AI software to model EV designs which helps to accelerate the design process and reduce costs. The startup believes that its software solution could decrease the development time of an EV from 48 months to 18 months, which would be a game changer for the industry. The capital raised will be used for hiring leadership roles and to expand & strengthen its international footprint.
VoltShare, a London-based EV charging startup, has announced it has secured £500,000 in growth funding. This round was led by SFC Capital, with London Co-Investment Fund, Bethnal Green Ventures, and Copa Ventures also participating. VoltShare is targeting its EV charging solutions towards the hospitality sector, thus most of the capital raised will be used on marketing, sales and product development.