BlackRock Real Assets, the realty investment arm of global asset manager BlackRock, has acquired an equity stake in Australian electric vehicle charging provider JOLT Charge, according to an announcement.
This marks the first investment in the EV charging sector by BlackRock Real Assets in the APAC region from its latest Global Renewable Power strategy. The fund — Global Renewable Power Fund (GRP) III — had secured $4.8 billion in its final close earlier this year, making it the largest independent climate infrastructure fund globally.
As part of the agreement, BlackRock Real Assets will provide over A$100 million ($72.1 million) of capital through business milestones to fund the construction of JOLT’s charging infrastructure, including the rollout of over 5,000 charging stations across Australia.
BlackRock said that the investment will support JOLT’s business expansion plans to build out essential infrastructure to enable the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia.
“The EV charging industry in APAC has tremendous near- and long-term growth potential, which creates exciting investment opportunities for BlackRock’s clients,” said Charlie Reid, managing director of BlackRock Renewable Power.
“Institutional capital will play a critical role in developing the infrastructure that will galvanise and accelerate EV uptake in Australia,” said Doug McNamee, CEO and founder of JOLT.
Last week, BlackRock Real Assets announced that it was set to acquire an equity stake in Korean solar development and investment company Brite Energy Partners (BEP), marking its first investment in South Korea’s small-scale solar sector.
In July, BlackRock Real Assets acquired a 100% stake in Korea Renewable Energy Development & Operation Holdings Co Ltd (KREDO Holdings), previously known as IGIS Private Equity.
The Global Renewable Power Fund (GRP) III, which invests in renewable power generation across Americas, Europe, and Asia, attracted commitments from over 100 institutional investors from over 18 countries. More than a third of the fund’s corpus has been marked for investments in APAC-based climate infrastructure assets.
BlackRock Real Assets managed over $61 billion in client commitments as of June 30, 2021.