Fuel cell maker Plug Power announced Monday that it has reached an agreement to buy the remaining 80% stake that it doesn’t own in HyPulsion. HyPulsion is European joint venture between Plug Power and Axane, a subsidiary of the French industrial gas supplier Air Liquide. The Latham, New York-based company will pay $11.47 million to Axane in the form of common stock.
Plug Power looks to expand aggressively in European market
The deal is expected to close by the end of August 2015. Air Liquide and Plug Power launched HyPulsion in 2012 to jumpstart the fuel cell market in Europe. The original deal between the two companies intended that Plug Power would eventually take control of HyPulsion. But Plug Power accelerated the process following its success in North America.
Air Liquide managing director Xavier Pontone said his company would continue to support HyPulsion as a hydrogen supplier to the U.S. company’s material handling customers in Europe. Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said in a statement that a strong presence in Europe was key to the company’s goal of $500 million revenue within five years.
Plug Power to report Q2 results on August 6
With sales and engineering staff in place, Plug Power will now move aggressively to broaden its presence in European material handling market. The fuel cell maker is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday, August 6 before the market opens. The company recently reiterated its full-year revenue target of $100 million.
Analysts expect the company to report $25.90 million in revenue and 6 cents a share in quarterly losses. Earlier this month, Plug Power said it witnessed record revenue during June quarter, without revealing the exact figure. The company shipped 888 units of GenDrive between April and June, up from 687 units in the same quarter a year ago. Plug Power had shipped only 419 GenDrive units in Q1.
The company expects to receive bookings of over $200 million during the current fiscal year. It reported bookings of $46 million in the first quarter. Plug Power shares were unchanged at $2.38 per share at 11:50 AM EDT on Monday.
