Lyten agrees to buy bankrupt Swedish battery company Northvolt
The US company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but the trustee trustee Mikael Kubu said that Lyten was not paying enough to allow Northvolt's creditors to recover their debts.
Lyten was co-founded and is chaired by the Swede Lars Herlitz, a former Ericsson engineer who has spent the last 30 years as an entrepreneur in California. Herlitz told the Ny Teknik newspaper last month that Northvolt's assets in Skellefteå and Germany would be "a perfect fit" for his company.
'This is a defining moment for Lyten,' Dan Cook, the company's CEO and Co-Founder, said. 'Lyten's mission is to be the leading supplier of clean, locally sourced and manufactured batteries and energy storage systems in both North America and Europe. The acquisition of Northvolt's assets brings the facilities and Swedish talent to accelerate this mission by years, just at the moment when demand for Lyten lithium-sulfur batteries is growing exponentially to meet energy independence, national security, and AI data center needs.'
In a press release issued on Thursday, the US company said it was buying Northvolt Ett and Ett Expansion in Skellefteå, Northvolt Labs in Västerås, and Northvolt Drei in Heide, Germany. The company is also buying all remaining Northvolt intellectual property (IP), and taking on key members of the current Northvolt executive team.
In its press release Lyten said that the assets it had agreed to acquire had previously been valued at $5 billion and included 16 GWh of battery manufacturing capacity, more than15 GWh of capacity under construction, and, with the Västerås facility, the largest and most advanced battery R&D center in Europe.
Advertisement
Lyten said it planned to rehire much of the workforce that had previously been laid-off.
"Lyten's acquisition of the Northvolt assets is a win for Sweden, for the former employees of Northvolt, and for positioning Sweden as key to Europe's energy independence," Sweden's business minister Ebba Busch said in the press release. "We have been working closely with the trustee and Lyten to fully support this deal and we are excited to work with Lyten moving forward to make good on the immense potential of these assets."
Lorents Burman, the mayor of Skellefteå, said that the the agreement had come as a relief.
"That the battery factory can now live on is important, both for the people of Skellefteå and all those who now have the chance to get their jobs back, and that is why we are happy about this news," he told the TT newswire.
"It has been a long journey since September last year and this is finally a result of all the work we have done. In my opinion, there was no alternative, but this was the only possible outcome that would eventually lead to a result."
Lyten is funding the purchase through money raised from private investors, with the various transactions dependent on approvals from the Swedish and German governments and the EU. Lyten expects the deal to close in the final three months of this year.
'The demand for European and North American made batteries is only growing,' said Lars Herlitz, Lyten's Chairman and Co-Founder. 'The combination of Northvolt's world-class manufacturing assets and low-cost clean energy, Lyten's world leading lithium-sulfur battery technology, and Lyten's US battery materials supply chain creates the right formula to fulfill Europe and North America's battery manufacturing ambitions."
Advertisement
Lyten currently manufactures lithium-sulfur batteries in Silicon Valley and is selling commercially into the rapidly growing drone and defense markets. Lyten is also preparing to launch its lithium-sulfur batteries onto the International Space Station in the coming months and has a multi-billion-dollar pipeline for BESS powered by lithium-sulphur.
The company will hold a press conference in Skellefteå at 1030am on Friday, Swedish time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
2 days ago
- Local Sweden
Centre Party calls for Sweden to bring in a tourist tax
Centre Party business spokesperson Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist has called for municipalities in Sweden to be allowed to impose an additional tourist tax to compensate for the burden of tourism on infrastructure and municipal finances. Advertisement Thand Ringqvist, who in 2023 was one of the contenders to lead the party, said that following Norway's example and allowing municipalities to charge visitors a fee would increase local acceptance for tourism. "About 60 percent of each tourist krona goes to the state. We have one of the world's most centralised tax systems," she said in a debate on Swedish public broadcaster SVT with financial markets minister Niklas Wykman. "So that's why it's important to find different ways to make sure municipalities get something back back. A municipal fee that municipalities can decide themsleves together with local businesses can do that." Norway's parliament in June agreed to allow muncipalities to levy a 3 percent tax on hotel, Airbnb and hostel stays, and also to levy a tax on visiting cruise ships, after areas like the Lofoten islands and most popular fjords have been overrun by excessive numbers of tourists. In the debate, Wykman likened a tourist tax to a tax on alcohol or tobacco, saying the only reason to bring in such a tax would be if you wanted to reduce the number of tourists, which no municipality in Sweden would really want to do. But Thand Ringqvist countered that this reflected the Stockholm-based perspective of the finance ministry. Advertisement "I see this from [visiting] the gravel roads in the Jämtland mountains and from Öland and I hear what local people are saying," Thand Ringqvist. "The minister sees it from the finance ministry, and there it's hard to see the piles or rubbish, or the parking chaos, or the traffic jams people experience locally." "A municipality would never want to scare away tourists, this is about winning the support of local people and reducing the opposition to tourism in some places."
Local Sweden
2 days ago
- Local Sweden
Why is Sweden deporting young adult children of permanent residents?
This week: Northvolt's resurrection, and will Sweden halt 'teen deportations'? For Membership+ subscribers: why highly educated immigrants leave Sweden, and how can you build a professional network in Sweden? Advertisement In this week's episode we talk about the resurrection of Northvolt and what new ownership will mean for the bankrupt battery maker. We also ask if the government is likely to do anything to stop the trend of young adults being deported while their working parents are allowed to stay in Sweden. For Membership+ subscribers we look into research showing that highly educated immigrants are more likely to leave Sweden. Finally, we offer some concrete strategies for building a professional network in Sweden. Host Paul O'Mahony is joined this week by regular panelists Richard Orange and James Savage. Advertisement Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode: Northvolt Immigration Working in Sweden Moving to Sweden You can listen to the free episode here: Or follow Sweden in Focus wherever you listen to podcasts. Advertisement Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts Sign up now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday. Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+ Read more about Membership+ in our help centre. Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription. Advertisement
Local Sweden
3 days ago
- Local Sweden
Historic Swedish church to be moved to make way for mine
A historic red wooden church considered one of Sweden's most beautiful buildings is to be moved from its longtime home in the Arctic town of Kiruna next week as part of a campaign to expand Europe's biggest underground mine. Advertisement Kiruna Kyrka, a Swedish Lutheran church, dates from 1912. The 672 tonne, 40 metre (131 feet) high building will be moved five kilometres (three miles) on a lorry to the new Kiruna town on Tuesday and Wednesday. The complex and costly logistical operation has generated widespread interest, with more than 10,000 people expected to line the streets of the town of 18,000. King Carl XVI Gustaf will be among those in town following the move. Swedish television will broadcast the entire journey live -- a new iteration of the "Slow TV" trend -- with 30 cameras set up along the route, it said. Kiruna's entire town centre is being moved because of the giant mine that dominates the region. As the LKAB iron ore mine's operations have progressed ever deeper over the years, the stability of the ground under Kiruna has weakened, increasing the risk of collapse in some parts. Advertisement Unique event The town's relocation process began almost two decades ago and is expected to continue for years to come. The new town centre was officially inaugurated in September 2022. The relocation of the church alone is expected to cost 500 million kronor ($52 million) and is being paid for by LKAB. Designed by Swedish architect Gustaf Wickman, the imposing structure is a mix of influences and includes designs inspired by the region's indigenous Sami people on the pews. The neo-Gothic exterior features slanting roofs and windows on each side, while its dark interior has elements of national romanticism as well as an Art Nouveau altarpiece painted by Sweden's Prince Eugen (1865-1947), a pastel landscape inspired by his trips to Toscana and western Sweden. The church is one of 23 cultural buildings relocated in the Kiruna move. LKAB has called next week's relocation "a unique event in world history". The structure has been "thoroughly examined ahead of the move to protect its cultural assets in the best possible way, to ensure that the altarpiece and organ in particular are moved with care," the company said. Advertisement The roads on the route have been widened, a process that took a year according to LKAB, and the ground around the church's current location has been dug out. "The church is sitting on a beam system, then two rows of trailers were brought in," LKAB project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson told AFP. The move is expected to take on the air of a street party, with LKAB treating crowds to snacks, refreshments and live entertainment.
