On Monday, global energy and mobility tech investor Ideanomics, which is headquartered in New York City and also has offices in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Qingdao, announced that it has fully acquired California’s Solectrac, a maker of zero-emission electric tractors powered by renewable energy. Price and other deal terms were not disclosed.
It has virtually no competitors
In an announcement confirming the deal, Ideanomics said its ownership would provide Solectrac with the “operational confidence to scale” and become a established as a global leader and supplier of clean agricultural equipment, building on its early-mover advantage and dominant position in the North American electric tractor market, which Ideanomics characterizes as a sector “on the cusp” of widespread EV adoption.
“The acquisition of Solectrac is perfectly aligned with our EV and Mobility initiatives,” said Alf Poor, Ideanomics CEO. “EV tractors have proven to be superior to their diesel counterparts not only when it comes to torque and overall performance, but also when you consider operating costs, reliability, and the positive impact they have on the environment,” Ideanomics CEO Alf Poor said in announcing the deal, describing it as “perfectly aligned” with his company’s EV and mobility initiatives. “They are also an underserved part of the market when it comes to EV initiatives.
“With farmers and business operators eager to transition from diesel to sustainable alternatives, we intend to make Solectrac the reliable, go-to brand not just here in North America, but across the globe,” he said.
“All of us at Solectrac are pleased to be joining the Ideanomics ecosystem, giving us access to an array of resources to help scale our marketing, operations, and manufacturing capabilities,” said Solectrac Founder and CEO Steve Heckeroth. “Our mission is to lead the transition from fossil fuel-based farming to zero-emission regenerative agriculture with best-in-class technologies, and Ideanomics will help us accelerate our progress toward that game-changing goal.”
The acquisition by Ideanomics marks a major progression in the capitalization of Solectrac, which early last year launched a crowdfunding campaign to expand its production of electric tractors. Since that time, Solectrac has received a $500,000 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District as part of its Funding Agriculture Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions Demonstration Program, or FARMER program, which provides incentives to reduce agriculture sector air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
US Hybrid
On Friday, Ideanomics confirmed that it had completed an agreement announced last month to acquire US Hybrid, a privately held maker and distributor of electric powertrain components and fuel cell engines for medium and heavy-duty commercial fleet applications. US Hybrid recently booked several orders from its partner, California’s Global Environmental Products (GEP), for a fleet of all-electric street sweepers that are expected to deploy in multiple U.S. cities, and worldwide.
Later this month, publicly listed Ideanomics will be added to the all-cap Russell 3000 Index following its annual reconstitution on June 28.
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