Wallbox was founded in 2015 by former Tesla employees Eric Casteneda and Enric Asuncion, and now … [+]
Wallbox photo
Wallbox, a Barcelona-based company that develops charging stations for electric vehicles and homes, has agreed to be acquired by Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp., in a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal.
The transaction values the combined new company at $1.5 billion and enables Wallbox to go public and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the WBX ticker symbol.
The company will raise about $330 million from a range of investors, including Janus Henderson Investors, Luxor Capital, Cathay Innovation and Kensington Capital Partners.
A special purpose acquisition company is a company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering for the purpose of acquiring an existing company.
Wallbox was founded in 2015 by former Tesla employees Eric Casteneda and Enric Asuncion, and now sells its products in 67 countries. Those products include Level 2 AC chargers, the Pulsar Plus, Commander 2 and Copper SB, for home and business applications, and DC fast chargers called the Supernova, for public applications.
Another product, called the Quasar, enables users to charge their electric vehicles and use the energy from the vehicle’s battery to power their home, business or send it back to the grid.
“Today marks a big step in the evolution of our global company,” Asuncion said in a statement. “Mass market adoption of electric vehicles is here, and with this comes a need for significant expansion of charging infrastructure, starting at the home.”
Wallbox’s largest institutional investor, Iberdrola, announced recently the acquisition of the first 1,000 Wallbox Supernova fast chargers as part of its five-year sustainable mobility plan to deploy more than 150,000 chargers in homes, businesses and public road networks.
Wallbox has nine offices in three continents and has sold more than 100,000 units since its founding in 2015. Currently, it manufacturers products in Spain and China, with plans to add a U.S. manufacturing facility in 2022.
“We are incredibly excited to announce our business combination with Wallbox and to provide the company with significant capital and automotive industry experience to accelerate its global business plan,” said Justin Mirro, Kensington’s chairman and CEO.
Wallbox’s proprietary My Wallbox software enables electric vehicles, charging stations and charging operators to share data. So customers can regulate when a car is being charged to take advantage of variable energy loads and lower pricing during off-peak demand times of the day.
