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Beringea UK successfully sells stake in Chargemaster as part of BP acquisition

The investment enabled the manufacturer and operator of electric vehicle charging infrastructure to become the UK’s leading provider

Beringea, the international growth capital investor, has announced the sale of its stake in Chargemaster, the leading provider of electric vehicle charging infrastructure and operator of the UK’s largest and fastest growing public charging network, POLAR. The sale is part of an acquisition by BP.

Beringea first invested in Chargemaster in 2014 to accelerate its rise as the UK’s leading electric vehicle charging company. Over the course of the investment, Beringea worked closely with Chargemaster to spearhead the development of nationwide charging infrastructure and to create a profitable market leader.

Beringea and Chargemaster partnered to expand substantially the footprint of the business throughout the UK, serving a network of subscribers, domestic users, public and private sector clients. Over the course of the investment, Chargemaster significantly expanded POLAR, its network of public charging points, from 3,000 units in 2014 to 6,500 today. POLAR is now the UK’s largest and fastest-growing public charging network.

Chargemaster also manufactures and installs charge units for homeowners throughout the UK. A total of over 45,000 households with electric vehicles are now fitted with charging equipment produced by Chargemaster – a marked increase on 20,000 domestic users at the point of Beringea’s first investment in 2014.

The number of electric vehicles on the road is anticipated to increase rapidly in coming decades. By 2040, BP estimates that there will be 12m electric vehicles in the UK, rising from c.135,000 in 2017.

Chargemaster was founded in 2008 to harness this opportunity and pioneer the development of accessible and affordable infrastructure for electric vehicles. The business was established by David Martell, a serial entrepreneur who had previously built Trafficmaster, a traffic sensing and navigation company, from foundation to its £500m listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Malcolm Moss, Founding Partner at Beringea, commented: “Beringea and Chargemaster worked together to make vital progress towards the creation of accessible and affordable charging infrastructure in the UK. As demand for electric vehicle ownership increases and as lawmakers move to support low-emission technologies, we have helped to build a pioneering company with the foundations of an international success story.”

David Martell, Chief Executive of Chargemaster said “The acquisition of Chargemaster by BP marks a true milestone in the move towards low carbon motoring in the UK. I am truly excited to lead the Chargemaster team into a new era backed by the strength and scale of BP, which will help us maintain our market-leading position and grow the national POLAR charging network to support the large range of exciting new electric vehicles that are coming to market in the next couple of years.”

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