ABB is considering acquisitions to expand its electric vehicle charging business

Author: John Revill

ZURICH (Reuters) – ABB’s electromobility business will go on an acquisition path to meet ambitious sales targets after going public later this year, the company’s chief executive told Reuters on Thursday.

The company that produces fast electric chargers for cars, buses and trucks wants to spend $750 million to expand its operations, the company said on Thursday during the capital markets day.

“Our strategy assumes organic growth and through acquisitions. We need to achieve both at the planned pace,” said Frank Muehlon in an interview.

“We have a good geographical reach, but we still want to make joint acquisitions in the future, as well as take over or increase shares in companies. There’s even more ahead of us.”

Muehlon said the company, which is scheduled for an initial public offering in Switzerland in the first half of 2022, was already considering 50 potential targets last year.

As it informed investors, electromobility, which recorded sales of $323 million in 2021, wants to increase revenues by 40-45% this year.

It then targets a medium-term growth rate of 25-30% per year. Both targets would mean it would outperform the rest of the market, which has grown by about 23% annually over the past five years.

“We are confident … because of the backlog we have,” Muehlon said. “Last year we had $584 million in orders and we couldn’t convert it all into revenue.”

The division, whose clients include charging stations Ionity, Shell and transportation company Transdev, competes with companies such as Tritium, ChargePoint and Alpitronic.

Muehlon said he is also interested in increasing its e-mobility service offering, which provides higher recurring revenues and profit margins.

This will include software that can help fleet customers manage electric vehicles, he added.

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Michael Shields)