Volkswagen, BMW Battery Supplier Northvolt Eyes Raising $5B Via Debt

Volkswagen AG VWAGY and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMWYY battery supplier Northvolt weighed securing over $5 billion of financing.
Northvolt is bargaining with several banks to raise the debt financing, Financial Times reports.
The Swedish start-up became Europe's answer to CATL of China and South Korea's LG.
Northvolt produced the first battery from its European factory just south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden at the end of 2021, likely to cover space equivalent to 70 football pitches.
Northvolt will soon begin constructing a second "gigafactory" jointly with Volvo Cars in Gothenburg and explore building a third plant in Germany or the U.S.
A large-scale recycling facility next to its first plant in Skellefteå in northern Sweden will begin operating this year. It is also boosting production at a battery systems factory in Poland.
Northvolt has raised billions via debt issuance to fund its factory investments, including $1.1 billion in convertible notes in 2022 that have helped it ramp up production at its gigafactory in Skelleftea, Sweden.
Northvolt is close to hiring banks for an initial public offering (IPO) in Europe or New York that could value the company at over $20 billion.
Northvolt's CEO Peter Carlsson told the FT that the IRA was "moving momentum a lot from Europe to the U.S."
Price Action: VWAGY shares closed lower by 2.72% at $16.11 on Friday.