The automotive industry is increasingly switching to electric drives. Batteries are indispensable. VW and BMW, for example, have stakes in the Swedish start-up Northvolt. In order to cover the further need for money, according to several insiders, the Swedes are considering going onto the floor.
According to insiders, the Swedish battery cell manufacturer Northvolt is preparing for a multi-billion IPO in the next twelve months. The start-up, which also has shares in Volkswagen, BMW and Siemens, is about to select investment banks to prepare the offering, several insiders said. When it goes public, Northvolt could be valued at more than $20 billion, the insiders said. Whether it will take place in New York or in Europe is open.
Northvolt itself expressed reservations: “We will need more capital in the future. It is therefore only natural that we are prepared for an IPO,” said a spokesman. “But in the current market environment, that’s not relevant.”
Business with IPOs collapsed last year under the impact of the war in Ukraine, the turnaround in interest rates and the strong fluctuations on the stock exchanges. For 2023 – especially for the second half of the year – investment bankers are significantly more confident again. The chip group Arm Holdings Softbank and the social media company Reddit, among others, are targeting IPOs for the end of this year.
In the most recent financing round in 2021, investors valued Northvolt at twelve billion dollars. In total, the company has raised $8 billion in equity and debt from financiers such as Baillie Gifford and Folksam. The largest shareholder is Volkswagen.
Building factories for lithium-ion battery cells, such as those used to power electric cars and store energy, costs billions. Customers for this include VW and BMW. At the end of 2022, Northvolt opened its first “mega factory” in Skelleftea, Sweden, making it the first supplier in Europe to develop and produce a battery cell. Northvolt is also considering building a factory in Heide in Schleswig-Holstein.
