Blink Charging acquires Blue Corner
Blink Charging has acquired the European EV charging operator Blue Corner N.V., based in Antwerp, Belgium. The acquisition adds 7,071 charging ports to Blink’s portfolio across four countries in Western Europe – Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France.
Blink Charging has also announced the formation of Blink Holdings B.V., a new Dutch company in Amsterdam, which is supposed to drive the growth of Blink’s European presence. The existing Blue Corner operations, management team, and personnel will remain unchanged following the acquisition.
The US company headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, says that its European expansion allows it to immediately capitalise on the robust European EV industry. “EVs enjoy a much higher market share in Europe. This brings increased utilization for EV charging stations. In addition, the historically higher price of fuel makes driving an EV a stronger value proposition for drivers,” says Blink Founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Farkas.
Here, Blink Charging points out that the European EV market is growing faster than in its home country the United States. The company quotes ev-volumes.com, saying that sales of plug-in electric vehicles in Europe rose 137% to 1.4 million vehicles last year, whereas U.S. sales rose 4% to 328,000.
“International expansion is fundamental to our rapid growth and will accelerate the success we are already achieving in the region,” says Blink Founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Farkas. “Our aggressive international strategy complements a series of significant domestic wins and new contracts that have exponentially expanded our network in the US.”
Just last month, General Motors announced it has signed agreements with seven major charging networks in North America, which included Blink Charging but not the charging points from VW subsidiary Electrify America. In December last year, Blink Charging reached an agreement with the JSC Management Group, a large Burger King franchise, to install 26 EV charging stations at select Burger King locations across the US American Northeast.
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