British outfit reportedly makes last-minute Britishvolt bid

Britishvolt aims to secure funding for battery R&D and manufacturing businesses in the UK

A third group of investors has entered discussions to buy the troubled battery start-up, the BBC claims

A British group of investors has submitted a last-minute bid to buy troubled battery start-up Britishvolt, a report has claimed.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the BBC reported that a “British consortium” had put forward an offer, rivalling those previously submitted by an Indonesia-linked group and another comprising existing investors.

Last week, the start-up entered talks to sell a majority stake in an effort to secure its future. It said in a statement: “The discussions aim to secure legally binding terms that would provide Britishvolt with the long-term sustainability and funding necessary to enable it to pursue its current plans to build a strong and viable battery-cell R&D and manufacturing business in the UK.”

Previous discussions are widely reported to have been held with a consortium linked to Indonesia – with zero link to manufacturing, according to the BBC – and another comprising existing investors.

Any buyout effort – anticipated to cost around £30 million – must secure the support of 75% of shareholders in order to be successful.

When approached by Autocar, a Britishvolt spokesperson declined to respond to the latest news reports.

Britishvolt is expected to enter administration if it does not secure a buyer. It narrowly avoided collapse in November after securing several million pounds in funding from mining firm Glencore.

Combined with a voluntary pay cut for its near-300 staff, this gave Britishvolt sufficient funding to survive until early December.

The company was prepared to enter administration after the UK government rejected a request for £30 million in advance funding to prevent its collapse. It has been promised £100m to build its £3.8bn battery gigafactory through the Automotive Transformation Fund, but is yet to hit construction milestones required to unlock the cash. 

Repeated requests for funding – dwindling in value each time; from £30m to £11.5m and then £3m – sowed doubt in the Government over the company’s viability, reported the BBC.

As previously reported, one of the key issues affecting Britishvolt was that it loses around £3m per month on staff pay, yet isn’t expected to generate revenue until 2025. An exodus of 25 staff since November – mostly senior managers – reported by start-up tracking publication Sifted may help Britishvolt to cut its outgoings. Britishvolt’s spokesperson acknowledged to Autocar that there has been “some attrition of staff”; figures from LinkedIn suggest a 12% reduction in headcount over the past six months.

Britishvolt was formed in 2020 with the goal of building a battery gigafactory to supply Britain’s automotive industry from 2023.

However, it's yet to complete work on its Blyth site – arguably its most valuable asset, given its access to a seaport, renewable energy and proximity to the UK’s automotive heartland.

At the time of writing, the only UK gigafactory to have secured deals with a global cell supplier and a major manufacturer is Envision AESC’s planned expansion at Nissan’s Sunderland factory. It promises an output of 11GWh from 2024, eventually rising to 38GWh, supplying batteries for the replacement for the Nissan Leaf.

According to a report by the Faraday Institution, the UK will need around 100GWh of battery supply – equivalent to five gigafactories – to satisfy demand for electric vehicles. This will rise to nearly 200GWh – 10 factories – by 2040.