The Swedish battery cellsAccording to insiders, manufacturer Northvolt is preparing for a billion-dollar IPO in the current year. The start-up company that also Volkswagen, bmw and Siemens involved is on the verge of selecting investment banks to prepare the issue, several people familiar with the plans told Reuters. The US banks are the favorites Goldman Sachs and MorganStanley. The IPO could value Northvolt at more than $20 billion, the insiders said. whether he new York or will take place in Europe, be open.
Northvolt itself expressed reservations: “We will need more capital in the future. It is therefore only natural that we are prepared for an IPO,” said a spokesman. In the current market environment, however, that is “not relevant”.
The IPO business was impacted by the war in the past year Ukraine, the turnaround in interest rates and the strong fluctuations on the stock exchanges. For 2023 – especially the second half of the year – investment bankers are much more confident again. The chip group Arm Holdings Softbank and the social media company Reddit, among others, are targeting IPOs for the end of this year.
Northvolt has raised eight billion dollars so far
Northvolt is considered one of the most important start-ups in Europe and has been said to have plans for the stock market for some time. The company had these for the past year but probably shelved for the time being. In the most recent financing round in 2021, investors valued Northvolt at twelve billion dollars. In total, the company has raised $8 billion in equity and debt from financiers such as Baillie Gifford and Folksam. The largest shareholder is Volkswagen.
The construction of factories for lithium-ion battery cells, such as those used to power electric cars and used as energy storage costs billions. Customers for this include VW and BMW. At the end of 2022, Northvolt opened its first “mega factory” in Skelleftea, Sweden, making it the first supplier in Europe to develop and produce a battery cell. Northvolt is sold out until the late 2020s. Northvolt is also considering building a factory in Heide in Schleswig-Holstein.
At the same time, large amounts of raw materials are required for the battery cells of the Stromer. Experts see great risks that the battery cell factories get enough lithium and other important metals such as nickel, cobalt. This is one of the reasons why a factory is to be built in Brandenburg in 2025, where the Canadian company Rock Tech will produce lithium hydroxide for electric cars.