Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2022 (Revised December 2022)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and David Lane
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:22
ShareBar

Abstract

In November 2021, Girish Nadkarni, the head of TotalEnergies’ corporate venture capital arm (TEV) was considering whether, and on what terms, to exit an investment in Hyzon Motors, a start-up supplier of hydrogen-powered trucks. TEV had invested $4 million in Hyzon, which had gone public in July 2021 with a $2.7 billion valuation. Nadkarni was now eager to take TEV’s gains, but recognized the potential harm that selling TEV’s Hyzon shares could cause. Market observers might interpret TEV’s exit not as profit-taking but as an early investor’s lack of confidence in Hyzon’s prospects. Further, TotalEnergies had signed an MOU with Hyzon to bring 80 trucks to Europe—the goal was to demonstrate for its truck fleet customers the viability of hydrogen as a viable replacement fuel for the diesel it already supplied. Selling the Hyzon shares might convey the opposite message.

Keywords

Business Units; Communication Intention and Meaning; Renewable Energy; Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Design; Standards; Commercialization; Investment Portfolio; Market Transactions; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; New York (city, NY)

Citation

Gandhi, Vikram S., and David Lane. "TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors." Harvard Business School Case 822-019, January 2022. (Revised December 2022.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Vikram Gandhi

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

Related Work

    • January 2022 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors

    By: Vikram S. Gandhi and David Lane
Related Work
  • TotalEnergies’ Investment in Hyzon Motors By: Vikram S. Gandhi and David Lane
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College