Britishvolt buyer hasn't made final payment, administrators say

Recharge Industries, the Australian company which was planning to buy failed battery start-up Britishvolt, has reportedly missed the deadline to pay for the business.

Filings from administrators at EY claim the final instalment of a nearly £8.6 million payment, which was due on April 5, is still outstanding.

EY say that Recharge Industries has therefore defaulted on its agreement but it is understood this is disputed by the company.

A report from EY to creditors states: “The buyer purchased the company’s business and assets for £8.57m. This amount was payable in a number of instalments. The final instalment remains unpaid and overdue. As a result, the buyer is in default of the Business Sale Agreement.

"Due to commercial sensitivities surrounding the current status of this matter, the joint administrators cannot comment on this situation any further at the moment.”

Recharge Investments told the BBC that the timing of the final instalment to be paid to EY depended on a "funding facility, which when closed will also cover the cost of the land acquisition" and provide extra cash for the project. It expects to close the deal in August.

Britishvolt entered into administration in January after failing to secure sufficient funding to build the £3.8bn electric car battery plant.

After an administration process, Recharge Industries – a portfolio company of US-based Scale Facilitation – completed acquisition in February.

Recharge's plan for the Britishvolt site was to initially develop battery storage technology, rather than batteries for electric vehicles.