Chargemaster "planning £170m float"

Sky News reports that it has learnt that Chargemaster, which was founded a decade ago and is reported to have a 50% share of the fast-growing sector, is targeting a flotation in June.

It says the company has appointed Cenkos Securities, the stockbroker, to oversee the initial public offering (IPO), from which it wants to raise £50m by selling new shares to investors and that sources close to Chargemaster's plans said it was seeking a pre-fundraising valuation of £120m, meaning that it would be worth £170m at the point of its flotation.

The company, which is privately owned, has partnerships with car manufacturers including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Nissan, Renault and Tesla.

In total, Chargemaster has installed more than 6,500 public charging points across the country and boasts 40,000 users - a figure that it wants to increase tenfold within four years.  It also makes and installs the devices for private and corporate customers, with major clients including Asda, Holiday Inn, Tesco, Waitrose, Whitbread and dozens of local authorities.

Sky News says Chargemaster estimates that the number of electric vehicles in the UK, which stands at 110,000, will reach 1m no later than 2022, according to marketing materials circulated by the company.

The company is run by David Martell, who set it up in 2008 after launching, and then floating, Trafficmaster, the traffic information and satnav group.