A deal for an Australian firm to buy the failed battery company Britishvolt has been sealed.
Recharge Industries, a new company which has operations in Australia and is owned by a New York-listed investment company, will take over the project to build a battery plant at Cambois, Northumberland. Recharge Industries had been identified earlier this month as the preferred bidder to take over the majority of the business and now the deal has been completed.
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Recharge’s chief executive David Collard said: “We are thrilled to have been successful in our bid for ownership of Britishvolt; our plans are the right ones for the local community and the UK economy. Our proposal combined our financial, commercial, technology and manufacturing capabilities, with a highly credible plan to put boots and equipment on the ground quickly.
“Our technology – including an exclusive license for the intellectual property and battery technology – has been developed and validated over the last decade through C4V in the US and will be the backbone of both gigafactories in Geelong and Cambois. Backed by our global supply chain, strategic delivery partners and a number of significant customer agreements in place, we’re confident of making the Cambois gigafactory a success and growing it into an advanced green energy project.
"We can’t wait to get started and want to start as soon as possible. The North East of England has a real depth of history and talent in manufacturing and engineering. I recently spent time in the area to get to know the people and the site, and I was struck by the similarities to our Recharge Industries site in Geelong, Australia.
“I was really taken by the passion and pride that the people have for the region and their determination to get behind a project that can drive lasting change. We have the right plan in place, to match and support the region’s energy and ambition to become a major player in the international battery market."
Mr Collard has said the Britishvolt brand name would remain but the business would initially focus on batteries for energy storage before then moving to produce batteries for high-performance sports cars, he said.
Britisholt went into administration in January after months of financial troubles. The Government had indicated a year earlier that it would back the company with £100m but the funding did not materialise as the company could not meet certain requirements.
Britishvolt has said it would create 3,000 jobs with a gigafactory making batteries for electric vehicles. It is not clear at this point how many people will be employed under the company’s new ownership.
The joint administrators of Power by Britishvolt Limited, at business advisors EY, confirmed the completion of the sale of the majority of the business and assets to Recharge Production UK Limited for an undisclosed sum. In a statement, they said the remaining Britishvolt employees had transferred to Recharge as part of the transaction.
The statement said: "The sale of the business will help to support the development of technology and infrastructure needed for the UK’s energy transition."
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