The AP funds, together with AMF and Folksam, have invested close to nine billion kroner in Northvolt. At today’s press conference, outgoing CEO Peter Carlsson said that the pension money will be affected by the reconstruction.
– We follow the process closely in dialogue with the company and try to work to secure our assets, says Jenny Askfelt-Ruud at the AP funds’ joint company 4 to 1 Investment.
The risk is high that they – like other main owners such as Volkswagen and Goldman Sachs – will lose most of it.
90 to 95 percent may be lost
According to Dagens industri, the Danish pension fund ATP wrote down the value of its assets already in October.
And a source at one of the Swedish pension companies tells SVT that they expect that 90 to 95 percent of what has been invested in Northvolt so far may be lost.
A reconstruction does not always mean that a company can be saved from bankruptcy. But the principle according to American Chapter 11 is to bring in new lenders or investors, who get significantly better terms than the old ones because the risk is high.
New lenders get a better interest rate and better security – sometimes with the option of exchanging for shares. Scania, which is now lending 100 million dollars, has a different security than shares, however, they have received Northvolt Labs in Västerås as collateral for their loan.
New investors can get lower risk
If someone now wants to buy into shares in Northvolt, they will probably be able to buy large shares for a cheap sum. Should there be bankruptcy, the new investors will be at the top of the priority to get something back when the bankruptcy estate is to be sold.
– There is a reason that investors may be interested, that you get better terms at lower risk, says Northvolt’s bankruptcy administrator Clas Rosdahl to SVT.
Should things go well for Northvolt, the new investors will also be the biggest winners.