Nuvve Plans $750M Joint Venture with Stonepeak; Stock up 31%

Nuvve Holding (NVVE) plans to set up a joint venture with private equity firm Stonepeak. The entity, which will be called Levo Mobility, will start with capital of $750 million. Nuvve stock rose 30.91% on Monday to close at $10.80.

Nuvve provides electric vehicle charging solutions. It has developed a technology that allows electric vehicles to contribute energy back to the power grid, earning money for the owners.

Levo will initially focus on accelerating the transition to electric school buses. It will remove cost obstacles by providing financing offerings to cover the upfront cost of electric buses. Levo will also provide a charging solution to the electric bus fleets.

The joint venture will capitalize on the Biden administration’s plan to reduce emissions in the transportation sector. Specifically, the administration wants to convert 480,000 school buses across the U.S. to electric models. Congress plans to allocate $25 billion toward electrifying school buses. Currently, around 95% of school buses run on diesel.

“We plan to remove barriers that currently exist for school districts and other fleet operators to convert to electric vehicles,” said Nuvve CEO Gregory Poilasne.

In addition to schools, Levo plans to target other fleet customers such as municipal services, last-mile delivery services, and ride-hailing companies.

Nuvve will contribute its technology while Stonepeak will provide funding for the Levo joint venture. They have not yet revealed how they will divvy up the financial stake in the business. (See Nuvve stock analysis on TipRanks)

Craig-Hallum analyst Eric Stine initiated Nuvve stock coverage with a Buy rating and a price target of $19. This implies 75.93% upside potential to current levels.

“We think Nuvve has the most robust & technologically advanced platform to scale,” noted Stine.

NVVE scores a 6 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, implying the stock is likely to perform in line with market averages.