Lyten has bought Northvolt. If you have no idea who Lyten is or what Northvolt is, don’t worry, you are not the only one. The basic thing you have to know is that Northvolt was European and had managed to attract 15,000 million euros with a very potential investment of European manufacturers and institutions. But he broke and is now in the hands of Lyten (American).
Step by step, we will understand how the greatest hope for the production of electric car batteries in Europe has collapsed and has ended up in the hands of a United States company for a ridiculous Price.
Lightning Compra Northvolt. For a figure that is not public but that points to just over 600 million euros. Although the terms of the definitive agreement have not been made public, it is known that Lyten, a Silicon Valley startup specialized in the supply of lithium-shaft batteries has achieved financing of 650 million dollars until the time of purchase, as reflected on their own website.
The final price has not been revealed but in media such as Reuters It is ensured that the company had achieved another 200 million dollars for this purchase. At the moment, it is known that Americans have bought Northvolt “at a small price,” as explained in the news agency.
What is Northvolt? This Swedish company was simply the great European hope in the production of batteries for electric cars. In The New York Times They explain that the facilities of this company in Sweden and Germany are among the most advanced in Europe, so they describe the purchase of Lyten as “bold”.
His goals were ambitious. They assured that with Northvolt, Europe would go from producing 3% of the total volume volume around the world to 25%. To achieve this, the company had 6,500 employees distributed by Sweden and Germany, with facilities that had to reach a production of 60 GWh in Germany. Sustained by a huge investment in R&D.
What happened? That broke at the end of last year. The company had announced that it could not cope with its debts (5,800 million euros) and that it had to fire 1,600 employees. A few months earlier, BMW canceled a request for 2,000 million dollars in batteries after Northvolt confirmed that he could not give them to time.
As domino pieces, everything ended up falling. And, consequently, with the banking company, its facilities, workers and resources were a bargain for anyone. For anyone who dares to face years of losses in the hope of earning money. Lyten has been the company that has taken the front.
Small. The American company specialized in the production of sulfur-lithium batteries (which is contributing to the US armed forces) has been the one that has confirmed the purchase of Northvolt, including all its assets (also the projects they had in Canada) but, of course, assuming its debt of almost 6,000 million euros.
The company, of which Jeep (Stellantis) owns 2%, believes that with the purchase some of the customers who left the company can return before their fall. The objective is to focus more on the production of batteries for electric cars and return the illusion for a competitive European production against China.
However, in Reutersexperts remember that China has cost between 15 and 20 years dominate the supply chain and battery production so it is not realistic to think of short -term benefits. “If you think you can shorten it (this time), then you simply do not understand batteries,” says Rob Anstey, CEO of Silicio Gdi’s battery anodes developer.
Lost investments. The most dramatic thing about Northvolt’s bankruptcy is that billions of euros of European companies may have been lost. But, above all, of European public institutions.
Volkswagen was the main shareholder of the company (21%) and it is estimated that it injected at least 1.4 billion euros. They were not the only ones. It is known that Volvo lifted a Joint Venture with Northvolt worth 2.7 billion euros. BMW also invested about 1,000 million euros and had committed another 2,000 million euros for the purchase of batteries. Scania was also part of the investments. Financial groups such as Goldman Sachs and various venture capital funds were added to them.
But we must not forget that in Northvolt he also put public money at stake. The European Investment Bank made Northvolt more than 1,000 million euros, of which 280 million euros had been contributed and whose last item (943 million euros) had not been completely disbursed. To this we must add 700 million euros in direct grants committed by Germany and that have not been delivered but of which Lyten can benefit if, finally, the project of its plant in Heide (Germany) is finished. And also the Quebec government contributed 160 million euros, with the promise of supporting with almost 500 million euros.
Photo | Northvolt
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