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Oil Giant To Buy Charging Network As EVGo, ChargePoint Near IPOs

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) announced Monday that it would buy ubitricity, the U.K.'s largest electric-vehicle charging network, as it looks to diversify away from fossil fuels. Shell stock and EV charging stocks fell.

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Terms of the ubitricity deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to close later this year. Ubitricity was founded in Berlin in 2008. It has operations in Germany and France and has over 2,700 stations in the U.K.

The company's EV charging stations are built around existing infrastructure. That allows users who don't have private driveways to charge their EVs on the street.

Shell already has over 1,000 ultrafast and fast charging stations at its gas stations and access to over 185,000 third-party EV charging points on public property.

"Working with local authorities, we want to support the growing number of Shell customers who want to switch to an EV by making it as convenient as possible for them," said Istvan Kapitany, VP of Shell Global Mobility in a news release. "On-street options such as the lamp post charging offered by ubitricity will be key for those who live and work in cities or have limited access to off-street parking."

The deal also comes as EV charging stocks are coming to the market soon. EVgo, which runs one of the largest electric-vehicle fast-charging public networks in the U.S., is set to go public via blank-check firm Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corp. (CLII)

And fellow blank check firm Switchback Energy Acquisition (SBE) is taking rival ChargePoint public next month.


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EVgo, ChargePoint SPAC Stocks Fall

Shell stock fell 2.5% to close at 38.29 on the stock market today but is still above its 50-day and 200-day lines. The oil giant will report Q4 results on Feb. 4. Switchback Energy fell 2.4% Monday, and Climate Change Crisis sold off 10.6%.

After their respective blank check mergers close, EVgo will trade under the ticker EVGO and ChargePoint will trade under CHPT.

Meanwhile, Shell's EV investment comes as oil majors are facing a drop in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic and pressure to expand renewable energy assets from investors, especially in Europe.

But Shell has been ahead of the curve when it comes to a focus on renewable energy. In April, Shell announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The EU wants to end the sale of gasoline-powered cars by 2035 and China, India, Norway and other countries have said they will eventually ban the sale of cars that burn gasoline and diesel.

Follow Gillian Rich on Twitter for energy news and more.

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