By Christina Amann
BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen, Northvolt’s largest shareholder, has significantly written down its 21% stake in the Swedish battery cell maker that filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States last week, two people familiar with the matter said.
Several of Northvolt’s top shareholders have cut or revised the value of their shares in the company, continuing to miss production targets as the expected boom in demand for electric vehicles in Europe failed to materialize.
The writedowns at Volkswagen took place during the current fiscal year, the people said, without reflecting the current value of the stake.
At the end of 2023, Volkswagen reported the book value of its equity stake in the Swedish company at 693 million euros ($726 million), almost a quarter less than a year earlier.
That value fell dramatically over the course of 2024, the people said. They declined to be identified because the information is confidential.
Volkswagen expects an operating profit margin of 5.6% and a net cash flow in the car division of 2 billion euros in 2024.
Volkswagen declined to comment on the write-offs and reiterated that it would not comment on the impact Northvolt’s filing will have on the company.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that funds managed by Goldman Sachs, Northvolt’s second-largest shareholder with a 19.2% stake, would write down their $900 million stake in Northvolt to zero by the end of the year, citing letters to investors.
Swedish pension fund AMF, also one of Northvolt’s 10 largest shareholders, said it regularly reviews and adjusts the values ​​of its unlisted investments, but did not provide details when asked about its stake in Northvolt.
“As is clear to everyone, Northvolt’s value is significantly lower than a year ago,” an AMF spokesperson said, adding that the pension fund had held the equivalent of 1.95 billion Swedish kronor ($178 million) over the years invested.
($1 = 0.9550 euros)
($1 = 10.9793 Swedish Krona)
(Reporting by Christina Amann; additional reporting by Marie Mannes and Simon Johnson; writing by Christoph Steitz; editing by Tomasz Janowski)
