By Christoph Steitz

FRANKFURT (Reuters), BlackRock, the largest money manager in the world, joined Ionity’s electric vehicle charging venture Ionity for a 700 million Euro (788 million million). This round provides a needed cash injection and will accelerate construction of high-power loading facilities.

Ionity stated Wednesday that Ionity will be able to quadruple Ionity’s high-power 350 kilowatt charging stations to 7,000 by 2025 through the addition of existing shareholders.

Ionity didn’t provide any details about the round of funding, but existing investors Volkswagen (DE), Daimler(OTC:), BMW (F Ford, Hyundai) and Daimler (OTC 🙂 participated.

According to sources, BlackRock was close last month to investing approximately 500 million euros into Ionity.

David Giordano from BlackRock’s Global Head of Renewable Power, stated that “Ionity stood out in terms of maturity and sophistication of existing partnerships.”

Ionity, which was established in 2017 as a way to facilitate the installation and maintenance of charging stations along European roads, now boasts more than 1500 charging points throughout 24 countries.

BlackRock has become the first investor from the outside of the automobile industry in Ionity. Its purchase highlights the growing interest and potential for growth in the EV sector.

Michael Hajesch CEO at Ionity stated that it is the “coupling of energy and mobility” which makes the asset attractive.

As part of its expansion plans, he said Ionity would likely look for additional manufacturing partners to build the hardware. It is currently being constructed mainly by ABB in Australia and Tritium in Australia.

Hajesch, when asked whether Ionity will pursue an initial public listing (IPO) or a deal for a special acquisition company (SPAC), during its next growth stage, said that this is difficult to forecast due to market volatility.

“And that’s great. You have many options.

($1 = 0.8884 euros)