IFM Investors announces significant growth investment in Splend | IFM Investors
Summary
IFM Investors is pleased to announce a significant investment in Splend Group Pty Ltd (Splend), an Australian-owned company that is a leading provider of subscription vehicles to rideshare drivers across Australia and the United Kingdom.IFMs Growth Partners Fund 2 is investing in Splend alongside HESTA (through HESTAs mandate with IFM) and other co-investors, to acquire a stake of 49% in the company.Founded in 2015, Splend has one of the largest electric vehicle fleets in Australia and is supporting rideshare drivers to adopt lower emission vehicles through its all-inclusive flexible finance and ownership offerings whilst improving their earnings capacity.Splend has a fleet approaching 7,000 vehicles across both markets, with that number growing rapidly. The companys growth has been supported by structural tailwinds as rideshare companies look to transition fleets to electric vehicles.Splend has also created a strong customer value proposition by lowering the total cost of ownership for drivers compared to procuring, financing and maintaining their own vehicle.IFMs investment will support Splend to further expand their fleet and operations in Australia and the United Kingdom.The investment will also help fund the construction of dedicated rideshare charging infrastructure in Australia to help reduce the barriers to electric vehicle adoption and accelerate the decarbonisation of rideshare fleets.Splend has recently also secured a $300 million debt financing facility from Macquarie and a $40m financing facility from Clean Energy Finance Corporation, providing funding capacity to add thousands of vehicles to its fleet.IFMs Growth Fund is focused on investing in established, fast growing businesses where IFM can bring capital, strategy, talent and technology to further accelerate growth plans.This transaction is the sixth investment for the IFM Growth Partners Fund 2. Splends fleet of electric vehicles in Australia and the UK are already reducing carbon emissions by over 19,000tCO2e per annum.Were incredibly excited to partner with IFM, such a highly regarded global investor, who are very aligned and supportive of our ambitious plans. Through supporting rideshare drivers in owning EVs, we can be part of the change to lower our industrys carbon footprint for good.HESTA aims to have 10% of its global portfolio invested in climate solutions by 2030. Because IFM is owned by industry pension funds, we prioritise the interests of 717 like-minded investors worldwide by focusing on assets that combine excellent long-term risk/reward characteristics with broad economic and social benefits to the community.