Heavy blow for the electrification of the automotive sector in the United Kingdom: Britishvolt, a start-up carrying out a project for a mega-factory of batteries for electric vehicles, filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday, after months of struggle for its survival.
“The company is filing for bankruptcy due to insufficient investment to finance the research it was carrying out and the development of its sites in the Midlands (central United Kingdom) or in the North East”, explains the firm EY , which will handle the administration of this bankruptcy, in a press release.
To discover
Pension reform: calculate the age at which you will finally leave
The two appointed EY directors are evaluating options to monetize company assets, “including intellectual property and research and development assets,” for the benefit of creditors, the statement continued.
The administrators will therefore organize the closure of the company and its dismantling, it is specified.
The majority of Britishvolt's approximately 300 employees "have been made redundant with immediate effect," the statement said.
The start-up had narrowly escaped bankruptcy in November thanks to short-term financing and had since been looking for longer-term investors.
She had indicated last week to be in talks to sell a majority of the company.
The company's board reportedly decided on Monday that there was no viable offer to keep the company afloat, the BBC reported Tuesday morning on its website.
According to the British press, two offers at 30 million pounds were on the table (well below the sums already invested in the project), one from DeaLab Group, an investment fund linked to interests in Indonesia, and the other from certain Britishvolt shareholders.
A chaotic trajectory
The company had acknowledged in August difficulties related to “market conditions, including runaway inflation and rising interest rates”.
The company had also invoked “geopolitical uncertainties” and “the global energy crisis”, pushing back the production start date from 2023 to 2025. Faced with the difficulties, its employees had accepted a temporary salary reduction in November.
Out of a total cost of the project of 3.8 billion pounds, Britishvolt had so far raised only 200 million.
However, in January 2022, the company had entered into a partnership with the logistics building specialist Tritax and the British asset management giant Abrn relating to the construction of the factory for 1.7 billion pounds.
The project had also received support from the Conservative government of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
But the public funding of 100 million pounds, conditional on the progress of the project, has not yet been paid, according to the local press.
The start-up was aiming for an annual production of more than 300,000 electric vehicle batteries and the direct hiring of 3,000 people.
Dan Hurd, co-director of EY, said it was "disappointing that the company was unable to deliver on its ambitions and raise the necessary funds".
“Britishvolt has had a rocky trajectory and had narrowly missed the road exit before as the global race for battery dominance accelerated,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
She believes the failure of Britishvolt is a “significant hurdle for the future of battery electric manufacturing in the UK at a time when demand for electric vehicles has surged”.
Read also Fines for companies: the PNF publishes new guidelines for Cjip
Especially since the “mega-factories close to manufacturing centers (automotive) are considered important at a time when supply chains are no longer so well oiled”.
“We can hope that a big manufacturer will play the white knight but for the moment it seems that they are not decided”, concludes Susannah Streeter.
Bankruptcies are up sharply in England and Wales according to government statistics released on Tuesday: +32% in December over one year, and +76% compared to December 2019, before the pandemic.
SEE ALSO
- Automobile: near Nantes, a garage 100% dedicated to electric cars
