Shell Wraps Up Acquisition of Volta

HOUSTON — Shell USA Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, completed its previously announced $169 million acquisition of electric vehicle (EV) charging and media company Volta Inc.

With the closing, Shell now owns and operates one of the largest public EV charging networks in the United States. Volta's assets include an existing public EV charging network of more than 3,000 charge points at destination sites such as shopping centers, grocery stores and pharmacies across 31 U.S. states and territories, as well as a development pipeline of more than 3,400 additional charge points and capabilities to continue developing, operating and monetizing EV charging infrastructure.

"We want to make charging as convenient as possible for our customers," said István Kapitány, executive vice president of Shell Mobility. "As demand for EV charging continues to grow, destination sites will play a key role in meeting people where they spend a great deal of time: the store, the gym and everywhere in-between. Beyond providing a charging service, Volta specializes in generating advertising revenues from screens embedded into the charge point, adding a source of nonfuel revenue from sites both in the U.S. and globally."

With the acquisition Shell can scale its existing network and offerings to better participate in the long-term EV charging market opportunity within the U.S. Globally, Shell aims to expand its EV charging offer to operate more than 500,000 charge points by 2025 and around 2.5 million charge points by 2030. Today, Shell operates more than 140,000 public and private charge points around the world.

Volta's advertising capability and early mover advantage have allowed the company to secure prime spots and portfolio-level contracts with site hosts in high-value, high-traffic markets, according to Shell. While most of Volta's current revenue is generated through advertising, there are plans to increase the number of fast charging DC outlets with a paid charging model.

The acquisition continues a trend toward renewable resources and cleaner transportation development that Shell's various subsidiaries have undertaken over the past two years. In 2021, Shell New Energies closed an agreement to acquire energy storage developer Savion from Macquarie's Green Investment Group. And in March 2022, Shell Energy North America joined the Retail Energy Advancement League, an advocacy organization dedicated to energy consumer choice with a special emphasis on green options.

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Shell USA acquired all outstanding shares of Class A common stock of Volta for a purchase price of approximately 86 cents per share in cash. At closing, Shell repaid Volta's third party debt of approximately $11 million.

Additionally, Shell provided $20 million in subordinated secured term loans to Volta to support its balance sheet and bridge it through the closing of the transaction.

Volta is now a member of the Shell Group, bringing with it a team of approximately 200 employees.

Houston-based Shell USA is an affiliate of Shell plc, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with operations in more than 70 countries. In the U.S., Shell operates more than 14,000 Shell-branded stations across all 50 states.