EV Metals Group administrators pursue connected-party sale after £26.7 million collapse

Paul Cooper and Paul Robert Appleton of BTG Begbies Traynor, who were appointed joint administrators of EV Metals Group Plc on 1 June 2026, have released their proposals outlining how years of development spending, difficult capital markets and funding pressures left the UK parent of an international battery materials and critical minerals group unable to continue financing its operations. The administrators are now pursuing a sale to a connected party, although details have not been revealed.

The group was developing a vertically integrated battery materials business centred on upstream mineral assets in Western Australia and a proposed battery chemicals complex at Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. Its strategy included lithium and nickel assets, technical development, refining and downstream battery materials production, but the administrators said the business remained largely pre-revenue and dependent on continuing shareholder and investor funding.

That model became increasingly difficult to sustain as global capital markets for battery materials projects tightened, lithium and nickel prices weakened and funding appetite for large development-stage projects fell. The administrators said the group had also accumulated significant development expenditure over several years and faced continuing costs associated with its international operations.

EV Metals had sought to accelerate its development through the acquisition of Johnson Matthey’s Battery Materials business in 2022, a transaction intended to add technology, intellectual property, pilot facilities and technical expertise. The administrators said the acquisition increased the group’s operational complexity and funding requirements at a time when market conditions were deteriorating.

The company’s statement of affairs records substantial book-value assets, including approximately £15.2 million of intercompany loans, £22.9 million of other receivables, approximately £3 million of capital expenditure and intellectual property, and investments in subsidiaries with a book value of almost £59 million. However, most of those assets have either been assigned no estimated realisable value or remain uncertain because many of the underlying subsidiaries are themselves insolvent or unable to repay amounts owed to the UK parent.

Unsecured claims are approximately £26.7 million, including more than £14.5 million of shareholder loans, approximately £10.35 million owed to trade creditors, about £849,000 owed to former directors, approximately £829,000 owed to former executives, and employee claims. There are no known secured creditors. The administrators currently expect preferential creditors to receive a distribution and said there may also be sufficient funds for secondary preferential and unsecured creditors, depending on final realisations and the outcome of the proposed sale.

Following their appointment, the administrators marketed the company’s business and assets on an accelerated basis. Approximately 176 parties were approached, six expressions of interest were received and four parties were invited into further discussions. Only one ultimately submitted an offer.

The administrators have agreed terms for a sale to a connected party, subject to completion. Because the transaction falls within the Administration (Restrictions on Disposal etc. to Connected Persons) Regulations 2021, an independent evaluator was appointed to review it. Alistair Bacon of AMB Law concluded that the proposed consideration was reasonable, that the purchaser’s offer was the only available offer and that there was no viable alternative transaction.

The administrators said details of the consideration and certain other commercial terms have been withheld while the transaction remains incomplete and will be disclosed in their first progress report once the sale has completed. They expect the transaction to preserve the company’s underlying projects and improve returns compared with a break-up or liquidation of the assets.

The administrators’ proposals can be found here.