Natural gas engine manufacturer Westport Innovations Inc. has acquired BAF Technologies Inc. and its ServoTech Engineering Inc. subsidiary.
BAF is a subsidiary of Clean Energy Fuels Corp., the largest natural gas station developer in the U.S. Westport is acquiring BAF from Clean Energy for $25 million in Westport stock, the companies say.
BAF, which has been involved in natural gas vehicle (NGV) conversions for the better part of two decades, is one of Ford Motor Co.'s key Qualified Vehicle Modifiers for compressed natural gas (CNG) light-duty trucks and vans. Westport is also a Ford QVM, with its WiNG Power System for Ford F-250s through F-550s.
With the acquisition, Westport will now have the largest footprint in the light-duty NGV conversion space, bringing BAF's full portfolio of offerings into the Westport family. BAF has EPA and CARB approval for vehicle models such as the Ford F-59 and F-650, and EPA approval and pending CARB approval for the Ford Transit Connect.
The combined entities will also have a network of about 150 Ford dealerships through which to market and deliver CNG-powered light-duty vans and trucks.
‘We believe the combination of [the] new teams' market experience and Westport's technologies, scalable manufacturing processes and quality control systems will help create the type of products needed to deliver an OEM-quality vehicle experience to our customers,’ says Ian Scott, executive vice president of Westport.
Westport notes that it will continue to install the WiNG Power System, and new orders through BAF will create economies of scale and allow more flexibility in producing speciality vehicle configurations.
In tandem with the acquisition, Westport announced a $5 million co-marketing program with Clean Energy that will be aimed at growing the overall NGV market. Through the initiative, Westport will be able to provide purchase incentives for fleets, including fuel credits, and Clean Energy has committed to purchasing Westport products.
