Bish bash Bosch: German giant gives £38m endorsement to UK fuel cell maker Ceres Power
Ceres Power, the British fuel cell maker, got a £38m vote of confidence from German engineering giant Bosch this morning.
The Aim-listed firm’s shares rocketed 12 per cent today on the announcement that Bosch had increased its stake in the company.
Bosch increased its share in Ceres Power to 18 per cent, leaving the British tech manufacturer valued at more than £600m today.
Ceres makes fuel cells for a wide spectrum of uses, ranging from powering electric buses to people’s homes and data centres.
It employs about 300 people and is based in Horsham, west Sussex. It also has offices in Japan and South Korea.
Chief executive Phil Caldwell hopes his firm’s technology will help replace conventional combustion engines.
Speaking to Morning Wire, he called the investment “a huge endorsement for the company and the technology that we have”.
“It shows the growing importance of these kinds of non-combustion technologies to conventional power and engine manufacturers like Bosch.”
Ceres’ business model is to license its technology to high-volume manufacturers such as the German company.
It also has partnerships with Japanese automotive giant Honda and Chinese engine maker Weichai Power.
Shares have more than doubled in the last year, with revenue nearly tripling year-on-year to £15.3m in 2019.
He said the investment would help bring the company’s technology to large-scale manufacturing.