Blue Bird and Generate Capital Establish "Clean Bus Solutions," a Fleet Electrification-as-a-Service Joint Venture
December 07 2023 - 4:49PM
Business Wire
Vertically-Integrated Joint Venture to
Accelerate Adoption of Electric School Buses
Blue Bird Corporation (Nasdaq: BLBD), the leader in electric and
low-emission school buses, and Generate Capital, a leading
sustainable investment and operating company, have formed a joint
venture (JV) named Clean Bus Solutions, LLC to meet the increasing
demand for electric school buses and accelerate the adoption of
clean transportation of students in North America.
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The joint venture’s fleet electrification-as-a-service offering
will make it simpler for school districts to upgrade to advanced
electric vehicles (EVs) by offering electric school buses and
associated charging infrastructure at an affordable monthly fee.
This turnkey electrification solution will include Blue Bird’s
best-selling and widest range of electric school buses in the
industry, financing of both electric vehicles and charging
infrastructure, project planning and management as well as fleet
and charging optimization. The JV will help school districts
accelerate the electrification of their fleets while delivering new
revenue and profit streams to Blue Bird and its dealers. In
addition to the traditional up-front vehicle sale, Blue Bird’s
ownership in the JV will generate additional recurring revenue from
the financing and charging infrastructure services that are paid
over the vehicle lifetime and from the maintenance and repair
services delivered through Blue Bird’s dealer network.
Generate’s flexible capital solutions, expertise in
Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions, established project
developer network and existing decarbonization contracts with
school districts complement Blue Bird’s mobility solutions and can
help reduce the eight million metric tons of emission generated
each year by diesel-powered school buses in the U.S.
“We are excited to partner with Generate Capital to provide a
market-leading fleet electrification-as-a-service offering. Blue
Bird’s customers are poised to benefit greatly from Generate’s
sustainable investment expertise and flexible financial resources,”
said Phil Horlock, CEO of Blue Bird Corporation. “Through the JV,
school districts will continue to be supported by Blue Bird and the
dealers they have known and trusted for many years. School
districts will also avoid the significant upfront costs and
complexity of electrifying their school bus fleets while improving
air quality for their students and communities.”
“Parents are rightly pressuring their community leaders to clean
up the air their children are forced to breathe, and there's no
more obvious imperative than the school bus fleet. Electric,
pollution-free transportation is here, and it's the most compelling
economic and environmental choice – so it's time we take care of
our most precious community members,” said Scott Jacobs, CEO and
Co-Founder of Generate Capital. “Combining our decade of expertise
and experience in these communities with Blue Bird and its
market-leading electric school buses is a perfect way to accelerate
the transition to clean air and transportation that all of our
families, communities, and school districts are demanding.”
Blue Bird continues to expand its electric vehicle production
capacity to meet increasing demand. The company recently opened its
Electric Vehicle (EV) Build-up Center, a dedicated 40,000 sq.ft.
facility which will enable Blue Bird to significantly increase its
production of electric school buses, with capacity of up to 5,000
EVs annually in the years to come.
About Blue Bird Corporation
Blue Bird (NASDAQ: BLBD) is recognized as a technology leader
and innovator of school buses since its founding in 1927. Our
dedicated team members design, engineer and manufacture school
buses with a singular focus on safety, reliability, and durability.
Blue Bird buses carry the most precious cargo in the world – the
majority of 25 million children twice a day – making us the most
trusted brand in the industry. The company is the proven leader in
low- and zero-emission school buses with more than 20,000 propane,
natural gas, and electric powered buses in operation today. Blue
Bird is transforming the student transportation industry through
cleaner energy solutions. For more information on Blue Bird's
complete product and service portfolio, visit
www.blue-bird.com.
About Generate Capital
Generate Capital, PBC is a leading sustainable investment and
operating company driving the infrastructure transition. Generate
builds, owns, operates and finances clean energy, transportation,
water, waste, agriculture, smart cities and industrial
decarbonization. Co-founded by Jigar Shah, Scott Jacobs and Matan
Friedman in 2014, Generate has partnered with over 50 technology
and project developers and owns and operates more than 2,000 assets
globally. Generate is a one-stop-shop offering pioneers of the
infrastructure revolution tailored funding and support needed to
get projects built. The company’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service model
is designed to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable
resources to thousands of customers, companies, communities, school
districts and universities. Together, we are rebuilding the world.
For more information, please visit www.generatecapital.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements relate to expectations for future financial performance,
business strategies or expectations for our business and the joint
venture described in this press release. Specifically,
forward-looking statements include statements in this press release
regarding earnings growth and Blue Bird’s future positioning and
may include other statements preceded by, followed by or that
include the words “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,”
“intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or
similar expressions
These forward-looking statements are based on information
available as of the date of this press release, and current
expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of
judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking
statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as
of any subsequent date, and we do not undertake any obligation to
update forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be
required under applicable securities laws. The factors described
above, as well as risk factors described in reports filed with the
SEC by us (available at www.sec.gov), could cause our actual
results to differ materially from estimates or expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements.
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Blue Bird Investor Contact Mark Benfield Investor
Relations M: +1.478.822.2315 Mark.Benfield@blue-bird.com
Blue Bird Media Contact Julianne Barclay TSN
Communications M: +1.267.934.5340 E:
julianne@tsncommunications.com
Generate Capital Media Contact Elise Benoit Vice
President, Marketing and Communications
Elise.benoit@generatecapital.com E:
press@generatecapital.com
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