Northvolt Ett Expansion has gone bankrupt with a debt mountain of several billion, according to the bankruptcy administrator Jonas Premfors at law firm DLA Piper Sweden.
The company is building a new battery factory next to the existing one. The construction is not yet complete, but this bankruptcy includes an ongoing construction project, he says to TT.
The bankrupt company has no employees. However, among the creditors are several suppliers of goods and services to the construction project, according to Premfors.
With reservation that I've only been the bankruptcy administrator for an hour in this case, the debts are estimated to be somewhere between two and three billion, says Premfors.
Claims of 132 million
The company has simultaneously received payment orders, i.e. claims for unpaid invoices, from the Enforcement Authority of 132 million kronor. Among others, the installation company Bravida has a claim of nearly 18 million kronor and another installation company, Caverion, has a claim of 31.6 million. The established debt with the Enforcement Authority is half a million.
Jonas Premfors cannot currently say how large the assets of Northvolt Ett Expansion are.
The facility's value was almost ten billion in the latest annual report, but what value it has in this situation compared to then is too early to say, he says.
The goal is to try to sell the assets as expensively as possible.
According to Matti Kataja, press officer at Northvolt, the group has tried to find a solution to Northvolt Ett Expansion's problems for several weeks.
"Unfortunately, this has not been successful, and the application for bankruptcy for the subsidiary that operates the development project Ett Expansion was therefore submitted early this morning", he writes in an email to TT.
"Necessary step"
According to Kataja, the bankruptcy is "a necessary step since the expansion of Northvolt Ett has stopped and further investments in it would have risked the financial foundation of Northvolt".
Fredrik Andersson, chairman of the trade organization Byggföretagen in Västerbotten, says at a press conference together with the municipality that it will hit many members hard, who are often "first in the chain".
When a project stops, it goes quickly for us, he says.
According to Andersson, Northvolt's bankruptcy will lead to both bankruptcies and layoffs among subcontractors.
We shouldn't hide that, he says.
Battery manufacturer Northvolt is in an acute liquidity crisis and has notified 1,600 employees of termination. Additionally, the company has paused several major investments.
Several major customers, such as BMW, have withdrawn orders due to delayed deliveries and quality issues. Negotiations with owners and lenders about financing are ongoing.
”Northvolt continues to engage in dialogue with stakeholders for continued cooperation within Northvolt Group's ongoing operations”, writes Northvolt in a press release about Northvolt Ett Expansion's bankruptcy.
