Britishvolt's rescuer fails to complete payment

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【Summary】Australian company Recharge Industries has failed to make the final payment of nearly £8.6 million to acquire Britishvolt, a failed battery factory start-up. The administrators at EY have reported that the payment was due on April 5 and remains outstanding. Britishvolt, which had plans to build a gigafactory in Cambois, owed an estimated £130-160 million when it went out of business. The largest debt is to DC Energy, followed by Hana Technology and Glencore.

FutureCar Staff Aug 14, 2023 7:06 AM PT

Britishvolt's rescuer fails to complete payment

The Australian company that had planned to purchase Britishvolt, a failed battery factory start-up, has missed the deadline to pay for it. Recharge Industries still has an outstanding final instalment of the near-£8.6m total that was due on April 5, according to filings from administrators at EY.

A report from EY to creditors stated that "the sale to the buyer had not completed as the final amount of deferred consideration was due to be paid on 5 April 2023." The report also mentioned that the joint administrators have had to spend more time than anticipated in preserving and recovering the unpaid amount.

According to the report, the buyer purchased Britishvolt's business and assets for £8.57 million, payable in several instalments. However, the final instalment remains unpaid and overdue, resulting in the buyer defaulting on the business sale agreement.

When Britishvolt went out of business, it was estimated to owe between £130m and £160m. The largest debt, around £26.7m, is to DC Energy, a company that was supposed to supply electrode manufacturing gear to the start-up. Hana Technology from South Korea, another supplier to Britishvolt, was owed £22.3m, while mining giant Glencore was owed £20m. Additionally, the business owes around £3m in income tax and VAT to the taxman.

The administrators at EY have managed to raise approximately £74,000 by selling Britishvolt's IT equipment and an additional £77,000 by selling three staff vehicles. However, employees are owed around £279,000, according to the administrators.