Europe's Northvolt IPO Drive "Securing Ammunition for Battery War"

Commencement of Listing Process on Stockholm Stock Exchange

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Northvolt, Europe's largest battery manufacturer, has initiated the process of listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in Sweden. The funds raised through the public offering will be invested in establishing Europe's largest battery factory and other projects.

On the 23rd (local time), major foreign media outlets reported, citing sources, that Northvolt has recently begun selecting underwriters for its Stockholm Stock Exchange listing.

The target timing for the listing is next year. However, sources indicated that the listing plan is flexible, and since Northvolt wants to proceed with the listing after market conditions stabilize, the timing could be delayed further.

Andrea Peterson Roman, Northvolt's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), recently stated in an interview with a British media outlet, "Northvolt has been preparing for this initial public offering (IPO) for over a year," adding, "(The timing and success of Northvolt's IPO) now depend on market conditions."

The corporate valuation Northvolt aims for in this IPO is around $20 billion (approximately 27 trillion KRW). During a pre-IPO fundraising round in August, BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, invested by purchasing Northvolt convertible bonds (CB) worth 1.2 billion euros.

Northvolt plans to use the funds raised through the listing for new facility investments and other purposes. Currently, Northvolt is building or planning four of the largest battery production lines in Europe and North America. As part of this, it recently announced a $5 billion (approximately 6.72 trillion KRW) investment plan to establish a production line in Montreal, Canada. This facility, which will be the largest battery factory in North America, aims to build an annual production capacity of 60 GWh and is scheduled to start operations in 2026.

Following North America, the European Union (EU), the world's second-largest electric vehicle market, is actively implementing subsidy policies to localize battery production, and Northvolt is considered to be the biggest beneficiary. The EU market is rapidly emerging as a battleground where Korean, Chinese, and Japanese battery companies, leading the battery war, fiercely compete.

Northvolt is also significantly benefiting from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Northvolt has stated that "the subsidy effect from the IRA is estimated to be worth 9 to 10 billion euros per North American factory."

Founded in October 2016 by Peter Carlsson, a former Tesla executive, Northvolt is an electric vehicle battery manufacturer that rapidly grew with financial support from Volkswagen Group, BMW, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and others in 2019. Currently, Volkswagen, BMW, and Volvo are among its clients.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.