Australian firm announced as preferred bidder for collapsed UK battery start-up

Recharge Industries has been named as the preferred bidder for a UK battery start-up which recently collapsed.

Britishvolt, which was put into administration last month after it ran out of money had planned to build a £3.8bn factory to make electric car batteries. The company intended to take advantage of the increasing electric vehicle demand before the UK bans new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 ban.

However, it was forced to delay the start of production a number of times, most recently blaming "difficult external economic headwinds including rampant inflation and rising interest rates" and instead of creating jobs for 3,000 workers, over 200 people lost their jobs when Britishvolt collapsed.

Recharge Industries, an Australian company owned by New York investment firm, Scale Facilitation Partners, has entered an agreement to revive the plans for the factory in Northumberland.

According to EY, the accountancy firm and administrator to Britishvolt which has been overseeing the sale, "Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur within the next seven days."

“After a competitive and rigorous process, we’re confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved,” Scale Facilitation’s Australian-born founder and chief executive, David Collard, said in a statement on Monday.

According to EY, it followed a process "that involved the consideration of multiple approaches from interested parties and numerous offers received", however, Recharge beat a number of other companies to become the preferred bidder for Britishvolt.

The pitch won as it lent on strategic and diplomatic ties, and received support from the British government’s trade envoy for Australia, ex-English cricketer Ian Botham. The Australian startup also demonstrated its plans to build lithium-ion batteries free of materials from China or Russia, which reduced risks to supply chains.
Recharge is also building a battery-making factory in Geelong, Melbourne which, according to its website, will begin operating in 2024.

While the deal is still to be finalised, it would trigger a process of paying back creditors, but if completed, the factory would be the fourth-biggest building in the UK.

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