Majority of Britishvolt sold to Australia's Recharge

The sale of most of Britishvolt to Australia’s Recharge Industries has completed, it was confirmed on Monday, just over a month after the start-up collapsed into administration.

EY, the administer, said "the majority" of the business and assets had been sold for an undisclosed sum. Recharge was named preferred bidder on 6 February, with EY at the time noting that the acquisition was expected to close seven days later. Completion has taken longer than expected, however.

Established in 2019, Britishvolt intended to build a £3.8bn gigafactory producing sustainable, low-carbon batteries at a large site near Cambois in Northumberland. It swiftly attracted investment, including a pledge of £100m of government funding.

Construction was repeatedly delayed, however, meaning the public funding did not come through, and in January it called in the administrators after running out of cash.

EY declined to say which parts of the failed start-up were included in Monday’s sale. According the Financial Times, however, citing "multiple" people, Recharge Industries has acquired Britishvolt’s technology, and has been given exclusivity until 31 March to buy the site.

Recharge is ultimately owned by Scale Facilitation, a New York-based investment fund. In a statement, Scale said: "Under plans presented by Recharge Industries, the Britishvolt project will make the UK’s first gigafactory a reality, creating a strategic, economic and security asset which will play a critical role in the UK’s industrial and net zero strategies."

David Collard, chief executive of both Scale and Recharge, added: "Our proposal combined our financial, commercial, technology and manufacturing capabilities, with a highly credible plan to put boots and equipment on the group quickly."

Like Britishvolt, Recharge is a start-up. It intends to build a battery factory in Geelong, south of Melbourne, by 2024.