This article was posted on Nov. 21, 2025, at 2:23 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Energy solutions specialist Gridwiz is expanding into the electric vehicle charging business. It recently made a strategic investment of 3 billion won in a company specializing in procuring EV chargers. Analysts say the company has turned to the EV charging business as a new growth engine amid weak performance in its core power demand management institutional sector.
On the 21st, sources in the investment banking industry said Gridwiz recently became a strategic investor in eWave, a company specializing in procuring and selling EV chargers, investing 3 billion won. The deal involved acquiring convertible bonds that eWave issued, and management consulting firm Gebeberfreiheit advised on the transaction.
eWave's corporate value was estimated at about 15 billion won. The conversion price per share was set at 250,000 won, and if Gridwiz converts all the convertible bonds it holds into shares, it is structured to hold about 20% equity. It was also reported that a re-fixing clause to adjust the conversion price upon achieving sales targets was included.
eWave, founded in 2016, is a company specializing in sales and marketing of EV chargers. Its main business is procuring slow chargers for targets such as apartment complexes (APT), and it has handled more than 30,000 units. In the case of Everon, considered the country's No. 2 EV charging operator, half of its total slow chargers were built with eWave.
Gridwiz is said to have highly evaluated eWave's sales capabilities for EV chargers. Since Gridwiz already has an EV charging business supplying power line communication (PLC) modems and controllers for EV chargers and bidirectional charger products, it judged there would be strong business synergy with eWave.
Gridwiz reportedly made the merger of eWave's EV charger manufacturing subsidiary CS Technology a condition of the investment. The plan was to supply its parts to the manufacturing line and utilize eWave's sales capabilities, and eWave absorbed CS Technology through a merger this month.
Considering that procedures such as re-evaluating the valuation increase after a merger would increase post-merger, Gridwiz reportedly proposed the merger plan after investing first.
Some analysts say Gridwiz has chosen the EV charging business as a new growth engine. Although it rose to become the country's No. 1 power demand management specialist, it has entered a growth plateau beyond the stage of external growth. Its share price, which was 40,000 won per share last year, recently fell to around 15,000 won.
Gridwiz's EV charger business has continued to grow despite weakened EV demand. As product purchase demand increased due to strengthened mandatory installation standards for EV chargers, revenue from EV charger products reached 10.8 billion won through the third quarter, surpassing last year's annual sales of 7.8 billion won.
An IB industry official said, "Gridwiz is expected to pursue expansion beyond manufacturing and selling EV chargers with eWave to become an infrastructure operator known as a charge point operator (CPO)," and added, "I understand it is also considering acquiring a CPO company."