- European public EV charging provider, Fastned, has secured up to €200 million worth of green financing from a number of investment banks, which would allow it to rapidly expand its operations.
- The new loans have been secured from ABN AMRO, CreditAgricole, ING, Invest-NL, and Rabobank.
- Fastned is currently working towards a target of 1,000 EV charging stations online by 2030 – with that number currently standing at over 400.
Fastned takes on new pillar of financing to further its ambitions
This new green loan structure includes an initial €100 million fully committed, which will help fund the rollout of Fastned EV charging infrastructure in two specific territories: Belgium and Switzerland. The structure also includes a further but uncommitted €100 million, which will help Fastned expand further into other countries, as well as assisting with upgrades to existing charging locations. In total, this could mark up to €200 million in funding for the CPO, marking a significant addition to the €740 million worth of financing already secured by Fastned since its founding in 2012.
This long-term bank loan format marks a new and third funding strategy for Fastned. So far, the CPO has relied on a retail bond programme and equity listing through the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange to obtain capital.
Fastned is already a crucial player within the European public charging sector, with over 400 locations across Europe and the offer of charging speeds as high as 400kW. This new funding should help it remain a key player in the years to come.
Victor van Dijk, CFO of Fastned, commented:
“I am very excited that we’ve now added an important third funding pillar to finance the growth of our network. The equity platform and the retail bond programme have each raised over 250 million euro in growth capital to date, and this new bank funding platform will allow for amounts beyond that. Bank financing is a multi-billion euro market with dozens of banks active across Europe, meaning the size potential of this programme is more than sufficient to meet Fastned’s needs for years to come.”
Michiel Langezaal, co-founder and CEO of Fastned, added:
“Today marks a huge step forward for Fastned. For over a decade, our strong business model and the support of our retail bond investors enabled Fastned to build a leading concept and start scaling it ahead of the market. This earned us the freedom to pick the right moment to access institutional lending, with the right partners, on the right terms. That moment has now arrived. I want to thank everyone involved in this deal for their hard work and commitment in getting us here.The future is electric, and this additional source of funding will empower Fastned to continue building and leading this transition – bringing our iconic stations to drivers across the continent and creating the infrastructure we need for a cleaner and more independent Europe. We’ve set high ambitions to scale Fastned, and I’ve never been more confident we can achieve them.”
