Britishvolt has avoided calling in the administrators with a fundraising to get the UK electric vehicle battery startup through the next five weeks, with one industry buyer already circling if it fails.
The company confirmed on Wednesday that funding has been received and said that it has received “promising approaches from several more international investors” in recent days.
However, the short-term cash lifeline will only last until early December, Britishvolt's chairman told the FT.
Employees have also agreed to take a “temporary salary reduction” for the month of November, while executives are reported to be receiving no pay for the month.
The developer of a £3.8bn EV battery ‘gigafactory’ in Blythe, Northumberland said it was looking to “evolve” its strategy, and the short-term funding from an unnamed source is intended to “bridge over the coming weeks to a more secure funding position for the future”.
Earlier this week the government rejected a plea to provide an early payment of £30mln out of a promised £100mln from its Automotive Transformation Fund, as the investment is only available in staged payments as the development of the factory reaches certain milestones.
If Britishvolt does not succeed by the time the funds run out, Inobat Auto, an EV battery company chaired by former Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer and backed by FTSE 100 mining giant Rio Tinto PLC (LSE:RIO), is reported to be interested.
Battery designer InoBat, which is based in Slovakia, has spoken to the company's prospective administrators EY about potentially taking on the Northumberland site, according to a report in the Telegraph, instead of its own earmarked site in Teesside.
The Slovakian company has built a research and development facility in the municipality of Voderady in the west of its homeland and a pilot battery manufacturing line is under construction.
Last year Rio Tinto made an investment of an undisclosed size in Inobat to support the completion of the R&D centre and pilot battery line, following an agreement to "work together to progress the establishment of a 'cradle-to-cradle' electric vehicle battery value chain in Serbia", where the mining group is developing the US$2.4bn Jadar lithium-borates project.
The Jadar project, which offers the potential to produce roughly 58,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate for at least the next 15 years, remains subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences and ongoing engagement with local communities and the government.