Northvolt to raise $1.2 bn to expand
Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt is raising an additional 1.2 billion dollars in capital from investors to finance its further expansion in Europe and North America.
According to Northvolt, the new financing round is an extension of the $1.1 billion convertible bonds signed in July 2022. The backers of the extension include the existing investor Imcor, short for Investment Management Corporation of Ontario, BlackRock, the Canadian pension fund CPP, and long-time financial partner OMERS, which made its third major investment in the company.
IMCO had first invested $400 million (€366 mn) in Northvolt in June 2023, then in the form of convertible bonds. Back in July, there were reports that Northvolt was close to finalising a deal for its planned factory in Canada but has yet to provide an update on the Ontario plant.
At least financing the equity for the project should now be a little easier – lavish subsidies are known to be tempting in North America at the moment (cue in the IRA).
Together with the original financing from July 2022, Northvolt has now raised $2.3 billion (currently €2.1 bn) via convertible bonds. With this capital increase, Northvolt has secured equity and debt of more than nine billion dollars, offset by orders from key customers worth more than $55 bn that come from BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo Cars and Volkswagen, among others, according to the release.
However, it is noticeable that Northvolt does not mention the plans for Canada in the announcement. The company refers to ongoing production in Skelleftea, Sweden, which will be further scaled and supplemented by the ‘Revolt Ett‘ recycling plant. “Other projects are under development in Sweden, Germany and Portugal,” Northvolt said. This likely refers to the projects of Novo Energy (the joint venture of Northvolt and Volvo Cars for battery cell production in Gothenburg), Northvolt Drei in Heide, Germany, and the lithium hydroxide project in Portugal announced in late 2021.
“I’m proud to see our continued effort being recognised by investors, as we are receiving significant interest from capital markets to support our mission,” said Peter Carlsson, Co-Founder and CEO of Northvolt, adding: “The commitment to global decarbonisation is strong, and these milestones reinforce our position to meet the massive demand for sustainable battery solutions both in Europe and North America.”
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