Battery maker Northvolt makes progress toward longer-term bankruptcy financing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Swedish electric-vehicle battery maker Northvolt said on Friday it expects to line up additional bankruptcy financing by late January after engaging with over 100 lenders and potential investors. 

 

Northvolt entered bankruptcy on Nov. 21 with a $100-million bankruptcy loan from Swedish truck maker Scania, a shareholder and its biggest customer.

 

But that loan was not intended to carry Northvolt through its entire bankruptcy restructuring, and the company has continued to evaluate proposals for additional financing from strategic and financial investors. 

 

Northvolt attorney Jack Luze said at a Friday court hearing in Houston that the company had reached out to over 100 potential lenders and investors in search of new financing that would allow Northvolt to complete its restructuring. 

 

Luze said the company intends to present a longer-term financing proposal to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo Perez at a court hearing on Jan. 28. 

 

Perez granted full approval of Northvolt’s previous bankruptcy loan on Friday, after previously allowing Northvolt to access the first $51 million of the loan. 

 

"We are pleased with the results of this hearing, at which we gained final approval of our motions to access new funding, a positive step forward in our restructuring," a Northvolt spokesperson said. 

 

Northvolt raised more than $10 billion in an effort to mass-produce EV batteries and compete with experienced and deep-pocketed Chinese battery makers.  The company, which employs around 6,600 staff across seven countries, said it expects to continue normal business operations while it attempts to restructure its debts in bankruptcy. 

 

(Reporting by Dietrich Knauth in New York and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; Editing by Rod Nickel)