Motor racing-Ferrari extend Vasseur's contract as F1 team boss
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The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
US startup Lyten to buy bankrupt European battery maker Northvolt
FILE PHOTO: A view of Northvolt factory after the Swedish battery manufacturer filed for bankruptcy, in Skelleftea, Sweden, March 12, 2025. TT News Agency/Jonas Westling via REUTERS/File Photo STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -U.S. battery startup Lyten has agreed to buy most of bankrupt Swedish battery maker Northvolt, it said on Thursday, potentially offering a way back for the European company that was once seen as the region's answer to rivals in Asia. Lyten, a Silicon Valley battery startup developing lithium-sulphur cells as a cleaner alternative to lithium-ion, is backed by Jeep-owner Stellantis and U.S. delivery services provider FedEx. The deal revives hopes for European battery independence after Northvolt - the continent's potential rival to major Chinese electric vehicle battery makers - filed for bankruptcy in March, making it one of Sweden's largest corporate failures and sparking a frantic push to find a buyer. "Our plans are ... in large part to pick up where the Northvolt team left off," Lyten CEO and co-founder Dan Cook told Reuters, declining to disclose the purchase price beyond saying it was at a "substantial discount" to the original asset value. Northvolt's bankruptcy trustee said that the deal defused the risk of "complete shutdown", while Sweden's deputy prime minister Ebba Busch said the deal positioned the country "as key to Europe's energy independence. Northvolt has received much criticism that it had overpromised while failing to deliver battery cells deemed good enough quality for clients, even with help from its biggest customer, truckmaker Scania. Gustaf Sundell, Scania's head of ventures and new business, told Reuters it was too early to say if the group would place orders for batteries with Lyten, but it was happy with the outcome. TARGET MARKETS Lyten hopes to quickly restart the flagship Skelleftea plant in northern Sweden and resume deliveries of lithium-ion battery cells in 2026. In July it acquired Northvolt's energy storage business in Poland, Europe's largest, and is targeting automotive, defence and energy storage markets. Cook said several of Northvolt's former management would be joining Lyten, though not founder and ex-CEO Peter Carlsson. "We are focused on developing to be the leaders in locally sourced, locally manufactured batteries for both the North American and European markets right now," he said. Lyten said in July it had secured more than $200 million in additional equity investment to support its acquisitions and expansion plans. Cook said Lyten would prove its worth to Northvolt's former customers by focusing first on providing high yields to a single customer. Northvolt's order book once totalled more than $50 billion from automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen and Audi. "We actually think they'll come back, perhaps quicker than people believe," said Cook. The deal includes Northvolt's projects in Sweden and Germany, as well as its intellectual property. Work was also underway to acquire its Canadian unit. Before its collapse, Northvolt expanded across the Atlantic but later refocused on Sweden as its financial crisis deepened, selling assets for nominal sums. (Reporting by Marie Mannes and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Holmes)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Cricket-New Zealand take 49-run lead over Zimbabwe with nine wickets in hand
(Reuters) -New Zealand did not take long to gain the upper hand over Zimbabwe on the first day of the second test, skittling out their hosts for 125 before reaching 174-1in reply in Bulawayo on Thursday. Opener Devon Conway (79) and nightwatchman Jacob Duffy (8) were unbeaten at stumps as New Zealand led by 49 runs. Conway and Will Young put on 162 for the first wicket before Young chopped on a delivery from Trevor Gwandu to be bowled for 74 just before the close. Matt Henry, man of the match in New Zealand's comprehensive first test win, bagged another five-wicket haul with 5-40 in 15 overs while debutant Zakary Foulkes took 4-38 after Zimbabwe won the toss. Brendan Taylor top scored for Zimbabwe with 44, falling just when he looked on course for a successful return to the team at the age of 39. He was back after serving a three-and-a-half-year ban for breaching anti-corruption and anti-doping rules and before the match spoke of overcoming alcohol and drug addiction to revive his test career, which began 21 years ago. "How good is it that three years ago, I couldn't get out of bed and now I am here doing what I love, and that's representing Zimbabwe?" Taylor said in an emotional television interview before the first day's play. "I was in the dark depths of the abyss and trying to just get through this total and incomprehensible demoralisation of life. It was incredibly difficult." He was the fifth Zimbabwe wicket to fall when a ball from Henry looked to stand up on him and he steered an easy catch to Mitchell Santner at extra cover. Wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga made the only other significant contribution with an unbeaten 33. Fast bowler Foulkes was one of three debutants for the Kiwis, whose captain Tom Latham failed a fitness test on a shoulder injury, with Santner deputising for a second successive match. New Zealand won last week's first test, also at the Queens Sports Club, by nine wickets. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Ingebrigtsen set to miss Diamond League meetings in Poland, Belgium
(Reuters) -Olympic 5,000 metres champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen is set to miss this month's Diamond League meetings in Poland and Belgium as he recovers from injury, his spokesperson said on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Norwegian had been scheduled to run the 1500 metres in Brussels on August 22 and was also listed for the Silesia meeting in Poland on August 16, having been announced for the event as early as December last year. Ingebrigtsen has struggled with an Achilles injury over the last few months and had to drop out of the Ostrava Golden Spike and Oslo Bislett Games in June. "He is still working on getting rid of the injury he has sustained to an Achilles. Unfortunately. He would very much have liked to be able to participate," Ingebrigtsen's spokesperson Espen Skoland told Norwegian TV2. Ingebrigtsen has not competed since claiming double gold in the 1500m and 3,000m at the World Indoor Championships in March. He has spent recent weeks training in St. Moritz, where his camp say he is making steady progress. No revised timeline has been given for a return to competition, but Ingebrigtsen has said his goal is to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
