The battery manufacturer Northvolt is racing against time. The money is almost gone, a reconstruction process is underway, and it is crucial for any owners, old or new, to inject more capital that the troubled production improves. The number of batteries leaving the factory has so far been far too low.
The First AP Fund, which together with the other state pension funds AP2, AP3, and AP4 has invested 5.8 billion kronor, risks losing all invested capital.
This is how the CEO of the First AP Fund, Kristin Magnusson Bernard, comments on the situation.
Not Lost Yet
Can you imagine putting in new money?
That's an excellent question. Partly, one can say that, as a precautionary principle, we, like others, have written it down to zero. It's our own choice. It doesn't mean that the money is lost yet, she says.
And she sees bright spots:
What we're doing now is, of course, working closely with the company to recreate as much value as possible from our investment. And there, we see, for example, that the underlying business, production in Skellefteå, is moving quickly in the right direction. And that can naturally create external interest. Because that's always the case in a business when things are going in the right direction, there is another possible interest, she continues.
"Get What We Need"
When you say that production in Skellefteå is moving quickly in the right direction – what do you base that on?
Of course, our venture capital company receives ongoing reports on how the development in the company is going. Based on that, we see that things are moving in the right direction.
Put in new money. Is that possible?
This is like any other investment. For us to make additional investments, it requires that what we've done so far is something we believe will create more value going forward.
The day before yesterday, another interested party, Scania, which is both owner and customer, said that production is going according to plan.
We get the battery cells we need from Skellefteå, said a spokesperson for Northvolt to the news agency Bloomberg.
