A rescue deal for Britishvolt valued the struggling battery startup at just £32m, 96 per cent less than a year ago, according to two people familiar with the proposed deal.
The lead investor in the buyer consortium is DeaLab Group Limited, a London-based asset management company with ties to Indonesia, the people added.
Britishvolt said it is in talks to sell a majority stake in the business to a consortium of investors to raise funds to keep the fledgling company solvent.
Under the terms of the deal, the new investor will provide Britishvolt with £30 million initially, followed by another £128 million later this year, the Financial Times reported on Monday. This will help the business to operate, in order to secure orders from car manufacturers for battery technology.
The startup’s shareholders, which include Glencore and Ashtead, have until Friday to approve the deal, three people familiar with the vote said.
The threshold is 75 percent approval, a level that could prove challenging because many shareholders would be thrown out at a cost of £32 million, the two people said.
A funding round last February valued Britishvolt at more than £774m.
Three people familiar with the financing talks said that with no alternative to the offer from DeaLab, there is no prospect of the business remaining solvent if shareholders refuse to do a deal.
Britishvolt on Tuesday said that “we cannot confirm market speculation about the names of interested parties” and reiterated that “both parties will provide further details in due course and have nothing to add at this stage”.
DeaLab did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent through its website.