Dan Cook, CEO of Lyten.
Lyten has confirmed it is taking over all of Northvolt's remaining assets. The company announced the news in a press release on Thursday. Both the factory in Skellefteå and the facility in Västerås are to be restarted immediately after the deal closes.
– This is a pivotal moment, says Lyten's CEO Dan Cook.
Lyten manufactures lithium-sulphur batteries and supplies the American drone and defence industries, among others. Lars Herlitz, one of the company's co-founders, previously stated in an interview that Northvolt's battery factory would "be a perfect fit for Lyten."
Late last year, the company bought Northvolt's American facility, Cuberg, and just a few weeks ago, it confirmed the purchase of the factory in Gdansk.
According to Lyten, the facilities in Skellefteå and Västerås will be restarted immediately after the deal is finalised. The company states that the acquisition is being fully funded by equity from private investors.
Lyten has now signed a binding agreement to buy the remaining assets from Northvolt in both Sweden and Germany. In addition to Northvolt Ett and Expansion Ett, the deal also includes Northvolt Labs in Västerås, Northvolt Drei in Heide, and all of Northvolt's remaining intellectual property. The value of the assets is estimated at around $5 billion, equivalent to approximately 50 billion Swedish kronor. The purchase price, however, remains undisclosed.
Dan Cook told Reuters that the company's plans are "in large part to pick up where the Northvolt team left off." He declined to say what the purchase price was, but noted that it was at a "substantial discount" to the original asset value.
Cook also told Reuters Cook that several of Northvolt's former management would be joining Lyten, though not founder and former CEO, Peter Carlsson.
– We are focused on developing to be the leaders in locally sourced, locally manufactured batteries for both the North American and European markets right now, he said.
Lyten is an American maker of lithium-sulphur batteries.
– With these facilities and access to Swedish expertise, we can accelerate our expansion in Europe by several years, just as the demand for lithium-sulphur batteries is increasing sharply in energy security and AI data centres, says Cook.
The company plans to re-hire a large portion of the former staff who worked for Northvolt and will evaluate staffing needs on a site-by-site basis.
– We see great value in local expertise and are determined to create long-term jobs, says Lyten in the press release.
Lyten is taking over 16 GWh of existing production capacity, an additional 15 GWh under construction, and an infrastructure that, according to the company, enables a future expansion to over 100 GWh. Northvolt Labs in Västerås is described as Europe's most advanced research and development centre.
Lyten also confirms its interest in taking over Northvolt Six in Québec, Canada, where a battery factory with a capacity of 15 GWh is under construction. Discussions are underway with Northvolt North America, the Canadian government, and the provincial government of Québec.
– The demand for batteries manufactured in Europe and North America is only increasing. The combination of Northvolt's assets, clean energy, and Lyten's groundbreaking battery technology creates the right conditions to realise the Western ambitions in battery manufacturing, says Lars Herlitz, chairman of the board and co-founder of Lyten.
The company also announced in the press release that a press conference will be held in Skellefteå tomorrow, Friday, at 10:30. Lyten, Northvolt, and the bankruptcy trustee will provide more details about the deal then.