Blink CEO Mike Farkas told Automotive News that the company, based in Miami, previously designed Level 2 chargers but hired a third-party contractor to manufacture them. With the acquisition, Blink will have control over the operation, development and manufacturing of charging stations, he said.
“We’re the only EV charging infrastructure company in the United States that designs the hardware, manufactures the hardware in its own facilities, develops and maintains a network that operates the charging stations and owns and operates those charging stations in the field,” Farkas said.
Farkas said the vertical integration allows Blink to produce more robust products and deploy its infrastructure more effectively.
The statement said Blink will also acquire the SemaConnect manufacturing facility in Maryland and that it intends to capitalize on resources from the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year, which allocates $7.5 billion for EV infrastructure.
The acquisition “opens the door to us being able to participate in the Build in America component of the $7.5 billion Biden administration EV infrastructure program,” Farkas said. “It gives us the ability of reducing our costs tremendously on a per port basis.”
The deal is subject to customary adjustments for working capital and other closing conditions. Farkas said the deal was expected to be finalized within the coming days.
Blink shares fell 10 percent to $13.81 in morning trading on Thursday.