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Northvolt Reports Progress on Rescue Talks After ‘Intense’ Work

SKELLEFTEA 2022-02-17 Lithium-ion battery from Northvolt Ett plant in Skelleftea.Photo: Mikael Sjoberg (Mikael Sjoberg/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden’s struggling battery maker Northvolt AB said it’s making progress in talks on a rescue package and is ready to meet its payroll obligations later in the month. 

The cash-strapped electric-vehicle supplier continues to “work intensely” on securing new financing, a company spokesman said. It’s also prepared to pay salaries in October, a deadline that typically lands around the 25th of the month in Sweden.

“As we have done in the past, we plan to pay taxes and salaries in the future,” the spokesman told Bloomberg in an email.

Northvolt is targeting around €200 million ($218 million) to address its short-term needs, with about €150 million of that secured under verbal agreements, Bloomberg News reported last week. 

The company has struggled to ramp up battery cell production at its main plant near the Arctic Circle in Sweden, and costs from its expansion have been piling up. In response, Northvolt has scaled back major projects in recent weeks and narrowed its focus to increasing output at the main plant. 

One of its units sought bankruptcy protection last week as the firm strives to find a longer-term funding solution.

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