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This agreement leaves the door open for future sales of Northvolt shares
Northvolt went from being the European manufacturer with the greatest potential in the electric vehicle supply chain to having to face serious financial problems that have ended up leading it to bankruptcy, coupled with the lack of interest of several major European manufacturers, which caused the brand to start its journey in electromobility on the wrong foot.
But the European firm, which has important partners such as Volkswagen, refuses to die, and is carrying out a series of measures to get out of its financial difficulties. One of the latest decisions has been to sell the part it had in Novo Energy to its other partner, which is none other than Volvo Cars, which as is well known, belongs to the Chinese giant Geely.
Therefore, now the full ownership of the battery manufacturing company based in Sweden is of the Chinese firm, after the 2021 agreement that contemplated the construction of a battery plant on Swedish soil. This business with Geely has not been of Northvolt's own free will, but rather an obligation due to not being able to comply with the contract when the joint venture Novo was formed.
The procedure is still pending approval by the United States Bankruptcy Court and by the Swedish Strategic Products Inspection, so that the transfer of shares can be carried out formally. Novo Energy had announced a few days ago the dismissal of 30% of the workforce, as a way of facing market changes and due to a restructuring whose main objective, among others, is cost reduction.
Now Northvolt will have to focus on finishing deciding the new roadmap after divesting part of its operations, something that should happen before the end of the first quarter of 2025. Among its priorities is to keep the electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Sweden operational, and meet its expectations, if it manages to obtain the financing it needs to stay afloat.
