“Good time to hand over”

ENERGY

Northvolt’s CEO Peter Carlsson leaves his post – the day after the crisis-hit battery manufacturer applied for reconstruction in the US. According to Carlsson, the company is not a sinking ship, but he is also self-critical:
– We should have pulled on the brakes a little earlier, he says.

Northvolt announced on Thursday that it has applied for reconstruction in the United States through a so-called Chapter 11 process. This gives the company access to 145 million dollars in liquid funds from a security package and 100 million dollars in new financing from major customer Scania – i.e. around 2.5 billion kroner.

On Friday, the announcement came that Peter Carlsson is stepping down as CEO.

– I am absolutely convinced that the company will go through this process as a stronger, but slightly different company, but stronger financially, says Peter Carlsson during a press conference.

– The Chapter 11 filing enables a period during which the company can reorganize, increase operations while meeting customer and supplier commitments, and finally position itself for the long term. That makes it a good time for me to hand over to the next generation of leaders.

When the restructuring decision was made, there were about 30 million dollars (just over 300 million kroner) left in the coffers, money that lasts for a week, according to documents submitted to the American court.

A matter of trust

Debts to lenders amount to a total of around SEK 60 billion, in many cases with maturities of several years, according to Ekot. The funding that the company has now received is estimated to be enough for a bit into the best years – but it will only be a breather.

– But for a complete reconstruction, we will need this additional recapitalization, says Peter Carlsson.

And where that money will come from is still very unclear, there will be no answer to that question.

One of the big problems for Northvolt has been that they have not managed to get their production started as planned.

– Building this type of advanced production, bringing in so many new personnel and setting the process windows in these advanced processes has taken longer than we thought.

It boils down to a question of trust for new financiers that you will speed up production?

– Absolutely, but if they and not least our customers didn’t believe that we would solve this, we wouldn’t have seen a large amount of funding from the customers, he tells TT.

There was also no demand from the financiers that he drop out. He has, according to himself, not been fired. Without the fact that it is rather a matter of the company now entering a different process, he says.

“A different company”

He does not see the battery company as a sinking ship:

– I think Northvolt’s chances of survival are very strong.

Peter Carlsson is leaving the position as CEO but will remain as a senior advisor. He will also remain as a member of the board. Recruitment for a new CEO has begun. For the time being, the company will be managed by three people, including the finance director Pia Aaltonen-Forsell.

Sold shares for millions

In recent years, Peter Carlsson has sold some of his shares in the company – and earned hundreds of millions.

According to Dagens industri, it is up to SEK 200 million in sales of shares between the years 2019 and 2022.

Peter Carlsson himself stated at Friday’s press conference that it was not about 200 million. However, he did not comment on the actual amount.

– I did it four years ago, and it was less than five percent of my holding in the company. I did it at a stage where there was a very strong demand for these shares and in that situation it was an agreement that I had with the other shareholders, he said at the press conference.