Power by Britishvolt - Case Update

Joanne Robinson, Alan Hudson and Daniel Hurd of EY, the joint administrators of collapsed startup lithium-ion battery manufacturer Britishvolt, have provided an update on the Recharge saga, sharing that the company that purchased Britishvolt’s business and most of its assets has now been wound up.

When the administrators last reported on the progress of the sale of the company’s business and most of its assets to Recharge in February, they revealed that Recharge still hadn’t paid £2.176 million in deferred consideration due on the sale.

They’ve now provided a further update, sharing that a former employee of Recharge successfully petitioned the Court to wind up the company in May 2024. The joint administrators have lodged a claim in the liquidation, but it is unclear whether there will be any return to creditors.

However, the joint administrators have done everything they can to mitigate and even improve the situation, demanding payment from and commencing negotiations with guarantors. They have also taken steps to separately realise the interest Britishvolt retained in Britishvolt Properties Limited (“PropCo”), which has been successfully achieved via a sale of Britishvolt’s intercompany balance due from PropCo.

The company was the main source of funding for PropCo and, at the date of the administrators’ appointment, owed the company £46 million. As Recharge defaulted on its obligations under the sale agreement, there was no longer a contractual obligation to sell the shares of PropCo to Recharge. As a result, discussions were held with a number of parties who had expressed an interest in buying the land for the planned Gigafactory site.

As we previously detailed, Katch Fund Solutions held security over the land owned by PropCo and had appointed an LPA receiver over the land. Complicating matters was a buyback clause in favour of Northumberland County Council (“NCC”), which effectively capped the value that could be obtained for the site. Following a protracted marketing process, the LPA receiver conducted a sale of the planned Gigafactory site to Renaissance Land Limited (“RLL”) on 30 April. RLL reportedly paid £110 million to NCC in exchange for the removal of the buyback clause to get the deal done. RLL also agreed to buy the PropCo intercompany loan for £2.6 million, an amount in excess of the £2.176 million in deferred consideration owed by Recharge.

The joint administrators’ latest progress report can be found HERE.