United States: XL Fleet Corp., a leader in fleet electrification solutions for commercial and municipal fleets, announced the acquisition of World Energy Efficiency Services, LLC for total cash and stock consideration of approximately $16 million.
World Energy is a leading provider of energy efficiency, renewable technology, electric vehicle charging station and other energy solutions to customers across the New England region. By leveraging its comprehensive solutions in combination with utility incentive programs, project management and financing, World Energy assists companies throughout all aspects of the electrification process. The company provides full-service EV charger installations, including the assessment of a location’s electrical infrastructure, site layout of the charging area plan and equipment installation.
“Availability of robust electric vehicle charging and infrastructure solutions is critical to meeting the long-term fleet electrification goals of the global industry and our customers,” said Tod Hynes, Founder and President of XL Fleet. “Some of our largest customers have identified that fleet facility power constraints create a unique and large challenge when trying to charge dozens and even hundreds of vehicles at the same location. The team at World Energy is filled with experts that can help solve this problem by incorporating energy efficiency measures and solar power, while integrating EV charging to increase the amount of energy available for fleet vehicle charging.”
“We remain focused on eliminating barriers to electrification, and are committed to making it easier, cheaper and simpler for companies to electrify their fleets,” continued Mr. Hynes. “We are incredibly excited to bring World Energy’s experience and expertise in house. This transaction reflects a highly complementary addition to our XL Grid offering, improving our ability to reduce the total cost of ownership for the charging infrastructure needed to power fleet vehicles.”
“The highly strategic bolt-on acquisition is consistent with our growth strategy, our focus on electrification as a service, and was enabled by our new public platform with more than $400 million of cash,” said Dimitri Kazarinoff, Chief Executive Officer of XL Fleet. “As our customers look to install and operationalize their electric fleets, they will need seamless electric charging infrastructure. Our customers will greatly benefit from the supplementary energy efficiency services that we will gain with the acquisition of World Energy and its experienced team. World Energy amplifies the value of our XL Grid division by embedding critical charging solutions to deliver energy and cost savings to our expanding base of customers.”
“World Energy’s track record of winning in the energy efficiency utilities space within the U.S. market positions us to bring incredible value to XL Fleet’s suite of fleet electrification and charging infrastructure solutions,” said Rick Galipeau, President of World Energy. “We are tremendously excited about joining the XL Fleet team and bringing our commercial relationships to their world-class platform.”
Transaction & Financial Overview
Total consideration for the World Energy acquisition is approximately $16 million, comprised of $8.0 million in cash paid on the closing date and the obligation to issue newly issued shares of XL Fleet common stock valued at $7.0 million. The purchase price is subject to an adjustment for closing date net working capital and an additional earn-out payment of $1.0 million payable based on the achievement of World Energy’s 2021 revenue target.
World Energy generated $18 million of total revenue and was free cash flow positive for full-year 2020. The transaction was approved by both companies’ Boards of Directors and was closed effective May 17, 2021.
