Sweden’s Volta Trucks AB is planning to file for bankruptcy following a breakdown in its supply chain, the company said.
(Bloomberg) — Sweden’s Volta Trucks AB is planning to file for bankruptcy following a breakdown in its supply chain, the company said.
The decision comes roughly two months after Volta’s battery supplier Proterra Inc. failed, causing the truckmaker to fall short of production targets. The collapse “negatively affected our ability to raise sufficient capital in an already challenging capital-raising environment for electric-vehicle players,” Volta’s board said in a statement.
Proterra’s US Chapter 11 filing came “at the absolute worst time when production was to be scaled up,” according to Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom AB, one of Volta’s largest shareholders.
Volta in November raised funds at a roughly €600 million ($633 million) valuation as it prepared to ship its first trucks. The company, which employs about 850 people, had been targeting an initial public offering in 2024, according to Chief Executive Officer Essa Al-Saleh.
Supply-chain issues and shortages of key parts have tainted investors’ outlook across the industry. Volta had been one of several Swedish startups trying to lead on sustainable transport in a country where truckmaker Volvo AB and Volkswagen AG’s Scania have a long history.
Byggmasteren owned about 10% of the company’s shares as of June 30, a holding which is now worthless, according to the statement. It also invested about €4 million in a secured loan to Volta in the third quarter, the holding company said, adding that the loan’s value is now “difficult to assess.”
(Updates with board statement in second paragraph.)
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