Britishvolt gets a $39M valuation under rescue deal

British battery startup Britishvolt is in talks to be bailed out at £32m ($39m), 95% below last year’s valuation.

Organized by a consortium led by Dealab Group, the deal will see 75% of shareholders vote in a vote scheduled for Friday, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the deal is private. need to get the support of

A funding round last February put Britishvolt’s valuation above £774m.

British Vault was touted as a key part of the UK’s drive to build an electric car industry before being forced to seek short-term stopgap funding late last year to stave off a collapse.

Finding enough cash to build a £2.6bn factory has been a struggle for a startup whose auto industry customers are more keen to sign cooperation agreements than firm orders.

A contract has been signed with Aston Martin. The first electric cars of 2025 will be powered by batteries developed by British Volt and Lotus. Lotus is the company’s first public customer.

British Bolt said on Monday it was in talks with an investor consortium to sell a majority stake to secure long-term funding.

The battery company is still awaiting £100m funding from the UK government’s Automotive Transformation Fund announced in January 2022.

The company’s investors include mining giant Glencore, which was among the lenders who provided emergency funding.

The new investor initially offered the battery maker £30m, with a further £128m due later this year. financial times newspaper.