BP To Unveil EV Chargers In Stations With Chargemaster Buy

BP plc (LON:BP) (NYSE:BP) announced that it has agreed to acquire Chargemaster, touted to have the largest network of charging points for electric cars in the UK.

After the conclusion of the accord, BP will have the opportunity to set up ultra-fast chargers in all of its U.K.-based filling points. The united entity, BP Chargemaster, will likely own and operate roughly 1,200 forecourts of BP along with 6,500 charging units of Chargemaster. As per media reports, the transaction will be valued at $170 million.

It is to be noted that BP Chargemaster will operate as a wholly owned affiliate of BP and all the current Chargemaster employees will be serving the newly-formed company.

The British energy giant foresees mounting demand for electric vehicles (EV) in the coming years. From 1 million electric cars in 2016, the world will see roughly 300 million EVs by 2040, per BP.

With petrol demand likely to reach a peak by next decade, BP is taking cues from TOTAL SA (NYSE:TOT) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) plc RDS.A and chalking out plans to dominate the EV market through the launch of ultra-fast chargers.

Headquartered in London, BP is among the leading integrated energy firms in the world. Over the past year, the stock has rallied 31%, outperforming the 20.2% collective gain for the stocks belonging to the industry.

BP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, better-ranked players in the energy sector include Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE:APC). APC, Eclipse Resources Corp. (NYSE:ECR) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX) . Anadarko carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Eclipse and Chevron sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

We expect Anadarko Petroleum to witness year-over-year earnings growth of 229.6% in 2018.

Eclipse is expected to record revenue growth of 13.5% through 2018.

Chevron will likely see year-over-year earnings growth of 130.3% in 2018.

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