Australian company Recharge Industries is to take over Britishvolt, a bankrupt startup planning a gigafactory for electric vehicle batteries in the U.K., administrators overseeing a rescue deal said yesterday.
Financial conglomerate EY announced that it had selected Recharge as its preferred bidder for Britishvolt, which filed for bankruptcy last month, and anticipated that the transaction would close this week.
With Recharge and its U.S. subsidiary, EY claimed to have reached an agreement. parent Scale Facilitation Partners for the
takeover.
“This follows a process conducted by EY that involved the consideration of multiple approaches from interested parties and numerous offers received,” the statement added.
The agreement, according to David Collard, CEO of Scale Facilitation and founder of Recharge Industries, will enable them to construct the UK’s first gigafactory.
“We’re confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved,” he added in a separate statement.
Recharge is also setting up a sizable lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing and research capability in Australia.
“We are figuring out how to make batteries better, safer, and longer-lasting by utilizing cutting-edge artificial intelligence and international research collaborations.”
In order to promote a greener economy, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Britishvolt failed to provide sufficient funding for a multibillion-pound facility in Blyth, northeastern England.
This is in spite of the government’s pledged financial assistance and following funding from metals tycoon Glencore and British luxury vehicle manufacturer Aston Martin.
The collapse resulted in the loss of employment for the majority of the 300 Britishvolt employees.
The company had hoped to produce 300,000 electric vehicle batteries a year on a site employing about 3,000 staff.
Reference: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/australian-company-saves-bankrupt-uk-car-battery-firm-180669
