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Danish Fund ATP Lowers Value of Stake in Troubled Northvolt

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

(Bloomberg) -- Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, has marked down the value of its $6 billion unlisted assets portfolio as a result of its stake in cash-strapped battery maker Northvolt AB, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The asset manager, which has so far invested 2.3 billion kroner ($335 million) in Northvolt and has a 5% holding, said it had booked “extraordinary writedowns in private equity,” as part of its third-quarter report on Wednesday.

Those adjustments are largely related to the Northvolt stake but could also include other investments in the unlisted portfolio, said the person who asked not be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about it.

Northvolt is currently racing to secure a $300 million bailout to stay afloat. Talks for an emergency funding package, sewn together with contributions from shareholders, lenders and customers, could result in a deal emerging next week, Bloomberg News reported. 

Longer term prospects for the debt-laden battery maker remain fraught, however, given its materially scaled back expansion plans and cooling demand for electric vehicles.

A representative for ATP declined to comment on the Northvolt stake and the size of the writedown.

(Adds no comment from ATP in final paragraph.)

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