DLA Piper advises the TRATON GROUP on joint venture agreement for European high-performance charging network

DLA Piper has advised the TRATON GROUP on the formation of a joint venture (JV) with the other leading commercial vehicle manufacturers Volvo Group and Daimler Truck to install and operate a high-performance public charging network for battery electric, heavy-duty long-haul trucks and coaches across Europe.

All parties are committed to initiate and accelerate the necessary build-up of charging infrastructure for the increasing number of customers of electric vehicles in Europe and contribute to climate-neutral transportation in Europe by 2050. The JV creation is subject to regulatory approvals.

The planned JV is to be equally owned by the three parties and is scheduled to start operations in 2022. The parties are together committing to invest 500 million Euros to install and operate at least 1,700 high-performance green energy charging points on and close to highways as well as at logistic and destination points, within five years from the establishment of the JV. The number of charging points is with time intended to be increased significantly by seeking additional partners as well as public funding. The future JV is planned to operate under its own corporate identity and be based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The future JV will act as catalyst and enabler for realizing the European Union’s Green Deal for carbon-neutral freight transportation by 2050 – both by providing the necessary infrastructure and targeting green energy at the charging points. The joint action of the TRATON GROUP, Volvo Group and Daimler Truck addresses the urgent need for a high-performance charging network to support truck operators with their transition to CO2-neutral transport solutions. Charging infrastructure enabling long-haul trucking is a cost-efficient way towards fast-to-realize emission reductions.

The DLA Piper team for this transaction was jointly led by partner Gerald Schumann and senior associate Hanna Lütkens (both Corporate/M&A) and also included partners Sylvia Ebersberger (Commercial, all Munich) and Dennis Kunschke (Finance, Frankfurt), counsel Dr Friederike Landauer (Lit&Reg, Munich), senior associate Elena Bachmann (Finance, Frankfurt), as well as partners Richard Fens, Manon de Boer (both Corporate/M&A), Bas Degelink (Employment) and associates Aad Oomen and Diederik Schuurmans (both Corporate/M&A, all Amsterdam) and partner Laurent Massinon and associate Cindy van Rossum (both Finance, Luxembourg).

TRATON's inhouse legal team for this transaction was led by Dr Frank Oschütz, Senior Legal Counsel M&A at TRATON SE, and also included Helge Aulmann (Merger Clearance and Antitrust), Linda Burger (Commercial) and Dr Klaus Schartel (General Counsel).