Ezo, one of Ireland’s fastest-growing private electric vehicle charging networks, has successfully closed a €150m (£128.5m) investment-grade, non-recourse, senior debt facility to fund its expansion in the UK.

The landmark funding will finance the deployment of more than 3,000 charge points, representing over 100,000kW of capacity, across the UK and Ireland, positioning the UK to become Ezo’s primary market by 2027.

The chargers will mainly be deployed under long-term public-private partnership (PPP) style concessions with a risk allocation whereby Ezo handles the design, installation and maintenance of the sites. A portion of the electricity sales – expected to generate well in excess of £1bn over the next 20 years – will be shared with the public sector before the infrastructure reverts to public ownership at the end of the concession periods.

The debt financing has been provided by a consortium of lenders including Aberdeen Investments and Standard Life. It’s believed to be the first financing of its type where the funds will be used to install chargers across the UK and Ireland while revenues generated from these chargers will be ringfenced and used to repay the debt over a seven-year period. This new framework is expected to provide a new model for financing EV charging infrastructure that is ready for installation.

The investment will support Irish-headquartered Ezo, formerly known as EasyGo, as it delivers on its long-term business strategy of expanding its public charging network and continuing to invest in the technology, operational capability and client partnerships required to provide reliable, accessible EV charging.

The funding follows a period of significant international growth for Ezo, which has secured local authority-backed public charging contracts in the UK with a combined estimated value of over £1bn. These include a 20-year concession contract across four counties in Northern Scotland, a 15-year concession contract across four counties in the English Midlands and a number of other significant long-term public sector contracts that are to be announced over the next number of months.  Building on this momentum, Ezo is actively pursuing further opportunities across Scotland, England and Wales as it continues to expand its UK presence.

Alongside the debt close, Ezo’s majority shareholder, Rubicon Capital Management, has increased its stake in the company to more than 60%. Rubicon also led the entry of Whitehole, a Spanish family office specialising in sustainable mobility technologies, into the Ezo shareholding group.

Rubicon, which also acted as sole financial advisor to Ezo in both the equity and debt capital raises, has been retained by the company to explore other capital raising options, including a possible initial public offering (IPO) in 2028.

Ollie Chatten, CEO of Ezo, commented: “Ezo’s clear ambition is to make reliable public EV charging more accessible for drivers and communities and we have now demonstrated we can successfully compete for some of the largest and most significant EV infrastructure opportunities in the UK, while continuing to grow our network and partnerships at home in Ireland.

“Our focus is on working with strong public and private sector partners to build charging networks at scale across Ireland and the UK. The backing of our investment partners gives us the financial strength to deliver on those commitments, continue investing in our people and technology, and pursue the next generation of opportunities in the EV infrastructure market.”

Conor Kelly, CEO of Rubicon, added: “This funding represents a significant vote of confidence in Ezo, its team and the long-term infrastructure partnerships Ezo has secured. We understand this to be the first example of the application of this framework of financing in the EV charging sector and it is expected to become the preferred method of financing this collateral going forward.”