Sumitomo Corp, a leading integrated trading
company and SMFL, one of the world's premier financial institutions
are looking to support Gogoro's global business expansion
while creating new business opportunities for Sumitomo Corporation
and SMFL.
TAIPEI, April 29,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a
global technology leader in battery-swapping ecosystems that enable
sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced the
signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding (the "MOU"),
the first step in establishing a new partnership with Sumitomo
Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.
("SMFL") to accelerate Gogoro's global business expansion while
providing Sumitomo and SMFL with new unique opportunities to expand
their mobility business and second life battery use cases using
Gogoro Smart Batteries and battery swapping.
"Gogoro's innovative business ecosystem is designed to create
broader business partnerships and business models that were not
previously possible. Today, Sumitomo and SMFL are looking to
accelerate Gogoro's global business expansion while utilizing
Gogoro Smart Batteries and battery swapping to drive expansion of
their own mobility business and second life battery revenue,"
said Horace Luke, founder and CEO
of Gogoro. "Together, Gogoro, Sumitomo and SMFL share a vision
for accelerating the expansion of sustainable energy and
transportation in the world's most densely populated cities."
Gogoro utilizes big data from its innovative smart batteries and
battery swapping platform to transform energy and make it more
sustainable and accessible. Gogoro tracks dozens of parameters like
battery condition, population distribution, and environmental
conditions in real-time that provide significant insights that are
unique to Gogoro. With nearly a decade of real-world data and new
inputs being analyzed with every passing moment, Gogoro battery
swapping gets smarter.
Sumitomo is involved in a wide range of areas in the automotive
industry in Japan and overseas,
from vehicle engineering and manufacturing to sales, after-sales
service, and energy management. In the mobility services field,
Sumitomo is involved in auto leasing, auto financing, EV-related
business, individual subscription business, and parking lot
business.
The MOU signals Sumitomo and SMFL's interest to support Gogoro's
global business expansion, by leveraging their global networks and
knowledge gained from existing businesses.
SMFL's mid-term management plan strategy includes the
realization of a circular economy, and it intends to promote the
battery circular economy through the creation of a battery reuse
and recycling business using Gogoro's smart batteries and plans to
seek new unique business opportunities using Gogoro's smart
batteries as a new asset class for mobile second-life sustainable
energy usage.
"Gogoro's potential partnership with Sumitomo and SMFL, a global
leader in financing and leasing, would establish a new asset class
using Gogoro smart batteries to create new business opportunities
for Sumitomo and SMFL to utilize Gogoro's batteries for expanding
their mobility business as well as generating second life battery
revenue," said Bruce Aiken, CFO
of Gogoro. "Amongst the many new business opportunities, this
partnership would enable a new asset-light expansion model for
Gogoro that doesn't require a large upfront capital investment
while increasing the financial efficiency of our new
markets."
ABOUT SUMITOMO CORPORATION
Sumitomo Corporation (TYO:
8053) is an integrated trading company with a strong global network
comprising 129 offices in 66 countries and regions. The Sumitomo
Corporation Group consists of approximately 900 companies and
80,000 employees on a consolidated basis. The Group's business
activities are spread across the following nine groups: Steel,
Automotive, Transportation & Construction Systems, Diverse
Urban Development, Media & Digital, Lifestyle Business, Mineral
Resources, Chemicals Solutions and Energy Transformation Business.
Sumitomo Corporation is committed to creating greater value for
society under the corporate message of "Enriching lives and the
world," based on Sumitomo's business philosophy passed down for
over 400 years.
For more information, please visit
www.sumitomocorp.com/en/jp
ABOUT SMFL
Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and
Leasing Co., Ltd. has been a leading Japanese leasing company
for over 50 years. SMFL is owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial
Group, one of the biggest banking groups, while Sumitomo
Corporation is a top-tier trading company. SMFL provides aircraft
and engine leases to the global aviation industry and other
asset-based finance, such as real estate and energy facilities, in
addition to other types of finances like financial leases, debt and
equity investments, and various financial products.
For more information, visit: https://www.smfl.co.jp/english/
ABOUT GOGORO
Founded in 2011 to rethink urban energy
and inspire the world to move through cities in smarter and more
sustainable ways, Gogoro leverages the power of innovation to
change the way urban energy is distributed and consumed. Recognized
and awarded by Frost & Sullivan as the "2023 Global Company of
the Year for battery swapping for electric two-wheel vehicles" and
MIT Technology Review as one of "15 Climate Tech Companies to
Watch" in 2023, Gogoro's battery swapping and vehicle platforms
offer a smart, proven, and sustainable long-term ecosystem for
delivering a new approach to urban mobility. Gogoro has quickly
become an innovation leader in vehicle design and electric
propulsion, smart battery design, battery swapping, and advanced
cloud services that utilize artificial intelligence to manage
battery charging and availability. The challenge is massive, but
the opportunity to disrupt the status quo, establish new standards,
and achieve new levels of sustainable transportation growth in
densely populated cities is even greater. For more information,
visit https://www.gogoro.com/news and follow Gogoro on
Twitter: @wearegogoro
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
The MOU does not constitute or
create any legally binding or enforceable obligation on the part of
Gogoro, Sumitomo Corporation or SMFL. The parties are expected to
continue their discussions, and there can be no assurance that the
parties will be able to reach any final or binding agreement nor
that the partnership contemplated by the MOU will ever be
formed.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This communication contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking
statements generally relate to future events or Gogoro's future
performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements because they contain words such as "may," "will,"
"should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "going to," "could,"
"intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes,"
"estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative
of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern
Gogoro's expectations, strategy, priorities, plans or intentions.
Forward-looking statements in this communication include, but are
not limited to, statements about the potential partnership that
Gogoro may be able to establish with Sumitomo Corporation and SMFL,
including statements made by Gogoro's founder, chairman, and chief
executive officer and Gogoro's chief financial officer.
Gogoro's expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may
not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expected as of the date hereof,
including risks related to the parties' potential failure to enter
into a legal binding and definitive agreement with respect to the
partnership, the success of such partnership, the parties' ability
to achieve their respective goals as mentioned above under such
partnership and the parties' ability to achieve such goals in a
timely manner. The forward looking statements contained in this
communication are also subject to other risks and uncertainties,
including those more fully described in Gogoro's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including in Gogoro's
Form 20-F for the year ended December 31,
2023, which was filed on March 29,
2024 and in its subsequent filings with the SEC, copies of
which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The
forward-looking statements in this communication are based on
information available to Gogoro as of the date hereof, and Gogoro
disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements,
except as required by law.
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SOURCE Gogoro Inc
