Northvolt sells heavy industry battery business to truckmaker Scania

Konecranes Oyj

18/02/2025 09:00

* 
      Northvolt sells unti to truckmaker Scania
    

        * 
      Companies decline to disclose sale price
    

        * 
      Unit was earmarked for sale by end-2024
    

        * 
      Northvolt's available cash soon running out
    

  
    By Marie Mannes
       STOCKHOLM, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Sweden's Northvolt has
agreed to sell a business that makes electric battery packs for
heavy industry, one of its few profitable units, to its customer
and partner Scania, the two companies said on Tuesday, as the
battery maker's restructuring inches forward.
    While Northvolt did not name Scania in its statement, the
Swedish truckmaker confirmed to Reuters that it was the buyer of
the unit. It said it would fit within the company's power
solutions division, which sells Scania engines and components
for industries such as construction, agriculture and power
generation.
    Northvolt last year went within months from being Europe's
candidate for an electric vehicle (EV) battery champion to
filing in November for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
after its production faltered and fund-raising talks failed.
    The sale of the business unit, known as Northvolt Systems
Industrial, follows divestments to Norsk Hydro and Volvo Cars as
the group seeks to offload projects and divisions to cut costs
and focus on its battery plant in northern Sweden.
    Reuters reported in December, citing an internal Northvolt
memo, that the group needed to sell its industrial unit before
the end of 2024 and that it was in promising talks with a big
industrial company.
    Both companies declined to disclose the agreed price of the
transaction.
    "Following the acquisition, Northvolt Systems Industrial
operations will continue, and orders contracted for the year
2025 will be executed as planned," the battery maker said in a
statement.
    The unit's battery packs have been sold since 2019 and are
used on drilling rigs and in construction to power machinery
such as forklifts and has been one the few profitable businesses
for Northvolt.
    With its main operations in Gdansk, Poland, it counts
Swedish mining equipment maker Epiroc and Finnish engineering
group Konecranes among its customers.
    "This acquisition will provide access to a highly skilled
and experienced team and a strong portfolio of battery systems
built in Gdansk for industrial segments, such as construction
and mining, complementing Scania's current customer offering," a
Scania spokesperson told Reuters. 

    Northvolt said the sale of the unit, which employs around
300 people, is subject to regulatory clearances and the
execution of binding agreements.
    Scania, one of Northvolt's largest customers, lent the
battery maker $100 million last year to help fund the bankruptcy
proceedings, however Reuters had not been able to ascertain if
the second and third tranche, totalling half of the loan, had
been paid out and both companies declined to comment. 
    Even if Northvolt have had the funds disbursed, its
available cash is rapidly running out, with Reuters reporting in
January that its cash reserve would only last it until the end
of February.
    Reuters also reported in January that Scania was heavily
involved in the day-to-day running of Northvolt battery cell
factory in Northern Sweden, helping the company to boost the
quality of its cells.
  

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Northvolt's expansion projects    [https://reut.rs/4d0VdHg]
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Marie Mannes, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz
Janowski)
 ((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70;))