ChargePoint to Go Public in $2.4 Billion SPAC Merger

Electric-vehicle-recharging network ChargePoint said on Thursday that it will go public via a $2.4 billion merger with special-purpose-acquisition company Switchback Energy( SBE ) - Get Report.

Shares of Dallas-based Switchback at last check were up nearly 1% to $12.28.

The deal is expected to close near year's end. The combined company will be named ChargePoint Holdings Inc.

A SPAC, or blank-check company, is formed specifically to find and merge with an operating company.

ChargePoint will continue to be led by President and CEO Pasquale Romano and current management, the company said.

The deal will raise about $493 million in proceeds, which ChargePoint said it expected to use to expand its reach in North America and Europe and for other purposes.

The transaction includes $225 million from Baillie Gifford, Neuberger Berman Alternatives Advisors and other institutional investors. Baillie Gifford, the UK asset manager, is one of Tesla's( TSLA ) - Get Reportlargest outside shareholders.

ChargePoint, which was founded in 2007, said that drivers plug into its network roughly every two seconds and have completed more than 82 million charging sessions to date.

"ChargePoint offers a tremendous investment opportunity," Romano said during a conference call with investors, according to a company transcript.

"Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that by 2030 EVs will be nearly 29% of vehicles sold and the charging infrastructure category will be $190 billion in our markets."

ChargePoint has attracted funding from both private venture investors and large strategic investors, including Daimler DDAIF, BMW BAMXF, Siemens AG SIEGY, Chevron( CVX ) - Get Reportand American Electric Power( AEP ) - Get Report, Reuters reported.

The merger is the latest in a series of SPAC mergers, including electric-vehicle maker Canoo, which said in August it was combining with the SPAC Hennessy Capital Acquisition( HCAC ) - Get Report.