STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A subsidiary of Sweden’s Northvolt filed for chapter on Tuesday after the mission it was creating was cancelled, courtroom filings confirmed, whereas the remainder of the cash-strapped battery making group continued to consolidate operations.
The Northvolt Ett Growth AB unit had money owed estimated at between 2 billion and three billion Swedish crowns ($194 million and $290 million), a court-appointed chapter trustee informed enterprise every day Dagens Industri.
It had been chargeable for a deliberate tripling of capability on the group’s gigafactory in northern Sweden, however the firm’s board final month cancelled the mission.
“This is a necessary step as the expansion of Northvolt Ett has been halted and further investments in it would have risked the financial basis for Northvolt,” a spokesperson for the group stated in an emailed assertion to Reuters.
Tuesday’s chapter submitting had no affect on any of the Northvolt Group’s different companies, the spokesperson stated.
Northvolt stated in September it might slim down and minimize jobs, sparking fears that Europe’s greatest shot at a home-grown electrical car battery champion might stall as a consequence of manufacturing issues, sluggish demand and competitors from China.
On the day of its submitting, Northvolt Ett Growth AB had round 459,000 Swedish crowns of debt that was in default and confronted claims of 47 million crowns in overdue payments, Sweden’s debt enforcement authority Kronofogden informed Reuters.
Different Northvolt models had overdue payments amounting to about 85 million crowns, in keeping with Kronofogden.
“Northvolt Group continues to be in dialogue with stakeholders for continued cooperation within Northvolt Group’s ongoing operations,” the corporate stated in an announcement.
The Northvolt group declined to touch upon the extent of debt at Northvolt Ett Growth AB.
Northvolt has beforehand acquired greater than $10 billion in fairness and debt financing from gamers together with Volkswagen (ETR:), Goldman Sachs and BlackRock (NYSE:), filings present, and has been making an attempt to lift more cash to fund its costly ramp-up.
Firstly of the yr, Northvolt had clinched a $5 billion inexperienced mortgage package deal take care of a gaggle of lenders, supposed to pay for a big plant growth in Sweden, however the cancellation final month of the development mission put the funding in danger.
($1 = 10.3384 Swedish crowns) (This Oct. 8 story has been refiled to take away the extraneous letters ‘corpd’ in paragraph 1)
