Electric battery start-up Britishvolt is reportedly holding emergency fundraising talks with carmakers and other potential investors that may lead to a sale of the business, as it runs the risk of running out of money before Christmas.
The Financial Times on Friday cited three people familiar with the matter as saying that Britishvolt – which is backed by miner Glencore – is holding talks with seven possible “strategic investors” about options from assuming a minority stake to a full takeover, after recent market turmoil prompted traditional shareholders to pull out of its latest funding round.
The FT said India’s Tata Motors, the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, is one of the suitors, while other talks include at least one other carmaker and several energy companies.
Sources told the FT the company would collapse if it was unable to raise additional funds in the coming two months. The business needs to raise about £200m to fund it until next summer, when it expects to receive the first orders from carmakers for its batteries, chief executive Graham Hoare told the newspaper.
Britishvolt shipped prototype cells to a handful of carmakers last month, and has received “tremendous feedback” so far. “The markets have radically changed in the last six months,” Hoare said. In two recent cases, potential investors had done due diligence but pulled out at the last minute over concerns about the UK market conditions, he added.
He told the FT the company was “working to onboard a further strategic partner”, while declining to give specific details.
Britishvolt has “a number of opportunities between now and the end of the year”, and is “confident we will find the right partner to engage with”, Hoare said.
The FT reported last month that the business is burning close to £3m a month on pay after hiring almost 300 people, even though it does not expect to generate revenues until the middle of the decade. It has already delayed some investment plans at its factory site in Blyth, Northumberland, and closed an overseas office in the Middle East to preserve cash, the FT said.
