Britishvolt has been planning to develop a £3.8bn full-scale electric vehicle gigafactory in Northumberland in England
Australia-based Recharge Industries wins bid to buy Britishvolt. (Credit: Britishvolt Limited)
Ernst & Young (EY) has selected Scale Facilitation portfolio company Recharge Industries as the preferred bidder to buy UK-based lithium-ion batteries manufacturer Britishvolt.
In January 2023, Britishvolt entered administration and three partners of EY’s global strategy consulting arm EY Parthenon were appointed as joint administrators.
According to various media reports, EY anticipates the buyout deal to be completed within the next seven days, while not specifying the details of Recharge Industries’ bid.
EY stated that multiple offers were taken into account during the bidding process for the EV battery manufacturer.
Scale Facilitation CEO and Recharge Industries founder David Collard, has been quoted by various media, as saying: “We’re thrilled to be progressing with our proposed bid for Britishvolt and can’t wait to get started making a reality of our plans to build the UK’s first gigafactory.
“After a competitive and rigorous process, we’re confident our proposal will deliver a strong outcome for all involved.”
Britishvolt has been planning to develop a £3.8bn full-scale electric vehicle (EV) gigafactory in Northumberland in England.
The UK-based startup secured a final grant offer from the UK government for the proposed plant in July 2022.
The plant is expected to generate nearly 3,000 direct jobs as well as over 5,000 indirect roles in the wider UK supply chain.
With a total capacity of more than 30GWh by the end of 2030, the battery gigafactory has been expected to commence phase 1 production in Q4 2023 or early 2024.
In a separate announcement, Recharge Industries said that Jacobs will continue to lead the design of its Australian battery manufacturing production facility in Geelong.
The Geelong facility is expected to generate up to 30GWh of storage capacity per annum for EVs and stationary energy storage markets.