An Australian startup has been named as the new owner of Britishvolt, after the battery firm went into administration last month.
Recharge Industries, which was founded in 2021 and has plans to build a plant to make batteries for electric vehicles in its home country, has won the race to buy Britishvolt from administrators EY. The accountancy firm took over Britishvolt - which wants to build a 3,000 job gigafactory in Northumberland - last month after months of funding problems saw it eventually run out of cash.
Little is known of the Australian company, but it is known to have visited the site in recent days and is confident that it can bring the 3,000-job plan to fruition.
Read more : L&G boss urges more investment in the regions
David A. Collard, founder of Recharge Industries said “We’re thrilled to be progressing with our proposed bid for Britishvolt and can’t wait to get started making a reality of our plans to build the UK’s first gigafactory. After a competitive and rigorous process, we’re confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved.”
Britishvolt had first announced its plans for the site in Northumberland - the former coal yards of the old Blyth Power Station - in 2020, saying that it would bring 3,000 direct jobs and 5,000 more in the supply chain.
But despite the Government indicating it would provide funding and private backing of £1.7bn being announced last year, much of the investment failed to materialise and the company collapsed last month.
Administrators EY, which took over Britishvolt last month when it ran out of funding, said: “EY is pleased to announce that the joint administrators have entered into an agreement with Scale Facilitation Partners LLC and its indirectly wholly owned subsidiary Recharge Industries Pty Ltd to be the preferred bidder in acquiring the majority of the business and assets of Power by Britishvolt Limited (in Administration).
“This follows a process conducted by EY that involved the consideration of multiple approaches from interested parties and numerous offers received. Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur within the next seven days.”
READ NEXT:
