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NorthVolt’s fate hangs in the balance as the troubled Swedish battery maker is also considering Chapter 11 protection from creditors or bankruptcy.
People involved in negotiations over the future of Europe’s once-great automotive industry said a decision on its future could be made in the coming days after talks over a rescue package recently collapsed. It is possible.
NorthVolt is still trying to secure a short-term financing deal to continue operations but is also considering other options, such as Chapter 11 or bankruptcy, as time is tight, according to the same people.
The Swedish group, which has raised more than $15 billion in funding from the likes of Volkswagen, Goldman Sachs, Siemens and JPMorgan, as well as subsidies from Canada and Germany, has surpassed Asian groups in key battery technology. Tried to be Europe’s answer to dominance. A must for electric vehicles.
But NorthVolt has struggled to ramp up production at its sub-Arctic factory in Skelleftea in northern Sweden and has faced a growing crisis since BMW pulled the $2bn contract earlier this year.
It has cut a quarter of its jobs in Sweden and scaled back work on several projects to try to focus on increasing production at Skellefteå, which remains at only a fraction of the factory’s theoretical capacity. .
Sweden’s centre-right government has consistently rejected a state rescue of the company, while some of its private shareholders have expressed skepticism about pouring more money into the loss-making group.
“It’s very fluid but at a certain point you have to make a decision. Chapter 11 is possible, even bankruptcy is still an option,” said one person involved in the discussions, who added that NorthVolt Still preferred the rescue package.
One of NorthVault’s main investors told the Financial Times that he thinks bankruptcy is likely next week and has written down his investment to zero.
Northvolt said it declined to participate in the speculation. “Since the start of the strategic review, we have been constantly discussing different options, and this has not changed throughout the process. We will communicate the results when we have a result, while we continue to engage with our stakeholders. We will continue to communicate with each other,” the company said.
Past and present workers have told the FT of a series of problems with the factory and North Volt, from mismanagement and poor safety standards to annoying Chinese machinery and trying to do too much, too fast. is included.
