Northumberland battery firm Britishvolt in talks over majority sale
9 January 2023, 12:54
The start-up said it could keep functioning in the long term by offloading a majority stake in the business to a group of investors.
Troubled electric car battery maker Britishvolt has said it is in talks with investors over a possible sale, to keep the firm afloat after it came close to collapse last year.
It said in a statement on Monday: “Britishvolt is in discussions with a consortium of investors concerning the potential majority sale of the company.
“The discussions aim to secure legally binding terms that would provide Britishvolt with the long-term sustainability and funding necessary to enable it to pursue its current plans to build a strong and viable battery cell R&D and manufacturing business in the UK.”
The Government-backed start-up has been developing a £3.8 billion gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland, and received tens of millions of pounds of financial backing from metals giant Glencore.
But it fell into emergency funding talks in November after revealing it was close to entering administration, and managed to secure funding to keep it afloat in the short term.
A sale would mean Britishvolt could continue with the development of the factory, until it can begin making money from selling its batteries to carmakers.
Its existing employees, of which there are around 300, agreed to a voluntary salary cut for November to help reduce costs, it had said.
There were no details in the statement on Monday of the identity of the investors involved, or how much the sale could be worth.
The firm added that it, and the consortium of investors, would provide further details at the “appropriate time”.
