The 30 year-old founder of a British electric vehicle charging company which counts Amazon among its customers has seen his ambition of taking it public in a $675m merger disrupted by volatile global stock markets.

Sky News understands that EO Charging, which agreed a deal to list in the US last summer, has yet to agree on an extension to a merger agreement that expired last Friday.

Market sources said the absence of an announcement confirming a new deadline to close the deal implied that it was in trouble.

EO Charging, which was founded by Charlie Jardine in a former pig shed in Suffolk, said it would combine with First Reserve Sustainable Growth (FRSG), a New York-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

A further extension beyond the 11 March deadline remains possible, but Mr Jardine could be forced to revise the deal’s terms or abandon it if a new agreement with the SPAC’s board is not reached.

The market for so-called ‘blank cheque’ mergers has become increasingly torrid in recent months, with some vehicles returning cash to investors even before the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of its neighbour has sparked alarm among investors and meant that raising capital to complete SPAC deals has become more difficult.

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EO Charging provides EV charging points and maintenance services to the operators of van fleets, including Amazon, DHL and Tesco.

In the announcement of its merger with FRSG last August, EO Charging said the transaction was “expected to close in the fourth calendar quarter of 2021”.

“We have agreed on an amendment to the Business Combination Agreement with First Reserve Sustainable Growth (FRSG) that extends the time period for the transaction to be progressed,” a spokesman for EO Charging said last month about the original extension.

He declined to comment further on Tuesday.

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