Verbund and OMV join forces for E-Mobility Infrastructure

Austrias leading charging network and charge-point-operator, a former joint venture of Siemens Austria and Verbund AG, welcomes a new strong partner: OMV. The international oil and gas company joins forces with the previous shareholders to enable further growth of e-mobility in Austria by providing necessary infrastructure and related services. OMV takes over a significant stake (40%) in SMATRICS. Austria has established many local e-charging infrastructure providers, but only SMATRICS provides an established nationwide network of fast and standard charging stations. SMATRICS has also been a strong partner for European e-mobility projects, connecting all neighbouring countries through fast-charging stations, well positioned on major highway routes. SMATRICS is the perfect investment into modern mobility and adds e-electricity to the fossil-fuel mix of the current gas-station network. Venionaire advised Verbund AG and SMATRICS in terms of a solid setup for this M&A process over the past two years and has enjoyed working closely for the future of mobility infrastructure. “We are confident that the current setup and business model will accelerate e-mobility adoption in Austria”, explains Berthold Baurek-Karlic, Managing Partner (CEO) of Venionaire Capital.

 

Manfred Leitner, executive board member at OMV, emphasized the customer benefit through an additional alternative mobility service, while Wolfgang Anzengruber, CEO at Verbund, highlighted the “strategic long-term cooperation between the two largest Austrian energy companies”. SMATRICS Managing Director Viktor Fischer sees now the opportunity for becoming the Austrian market leader for electric charging infrastructure. So far, Verbund held 86% and Siemens 14% on Smatrics. With the entry of OMV (40 percent), Verbund and Siemens are sharing the rest according to current proportions.

The global trend of a significant transformation throughout all industries and value chains with notable impact on costumer behaviour, as well as challenges for corporate cultures, has arrived in Europe. We are proud to be among the very few specialists for Venture Capital, Corporate Startup Engagement (CSE) and M&A services, with a reference of more than 20 large corporate clients served within the last 4 years.

Picture: © Smatrics