Washington H Soul Pattinson and Company Limited says it has completed the acquisition of 100% of Ampcontrol in a deal that should help accelerate the privately owned electrical engineering company’s ambitions to help facilitate a net-zero carbon environment.

WHSP has held a major shareholding in Ampcontrol since investing in the company in 2005 and has now acquired the remaining shareholdings.

The acquisition comes as Ampcontrol accelerates its strategy to be at the forefront of developing and supplying advanced technology for the net-zero age. This was evidenced recently when Ampcontrol and its technology partner Tritium were announced as a winner in the Global “Charge on Innovation Challenge” launched by BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale to accelerate the commercialisation of effective solutions for charging large electric haul trucks.

The Ampcontrol and Tritium solution selected by the challenge was an end-to-end ultra-fast modular recharging station that is fully automated, relocatable, scalable and cell agnostic for mining haul truck battery swapping. Drive-in/drive-out, an autonomous transfer robot swap batteries in 90 seconds, significantly reducing safety risks and increasing productivity by excluding personnel from the swap process, according to the partners.

Todd Barlow, Managing Director of WHSP, said: “Ampcontrol is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the significant investment in resources, infrastructure and energy solutions, as the world transitions to a lower carbon economy. Ampcontrol is a high-quality platform upon which we can continue to invest and grow a world-class business, taking advantage of strong industry tailwinds and their talented people, technology and engineering excellence.”

Ampcontrol Managing Director & CEO, Rod Henderson, said: “The acquisition marks a remarkable new era for the Australian manufacturing business and the next chapter in its growth story. The increased ownership of WHSP will provide us with the stability and resources to take advantage of the organic and inorganic growth opportunities that the decarbonisation thematic presents.”