Californian battery start-up Lyten has agreed to buy the remaining assets of Northvolt, a Swedish battery manufacturer. Northvolt – which once prided itself as “laying the foundations for a green battery industry in Europe” and was awarded billions of euros in subsidies – filed for bankruptcy in March 2025.
On August 7, Lyten announced that it was acquiring all remaining Northvolt assets in Sweden and Germany, as well as the bankrupt competitor’s intellectual property. The company said the assets were valued at $5 billion (€4.3 billion) and comprised “16 GWh of existing battery manufacturing capacity, more than 15 GWh of capacity under construction, the infrastructure and plans to scale to more than 100 GWh, and the largest and most advanced battery R&D center (Västerås) in Europe.”
Lyten also said it planned to rehire “a significant portion” of the laid-off workforce at the Northvolt facilities.
The acquisition was being funded through equity investments into Lyten from private investors. As of July 2025, Lyten, which was founded in 2015, had received more than $625 million (€537 million) in funding from investors.
The acquisition is subject to approval from regulators in Sweden and Germany. However, the US company does not expect any difficulties getting the green light and is planning to close the acquisition by year-end.
Ebba Busch, deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, said: “Lyten’s acquisition of the Northvolt assets is a win for Sweden, for the former employees of Northvolt, and for positioning Sweden as key to Europe’s energy independence.” She added: “We are excited to work with Lyten moving forward to make good on the immense potential of these assets.”
Northvolt had once been hailed as the European champion in battery production for electric cars. The company received billions in investments and public subsidies, including a €700 million grant and a €600 million loan from Germany for the construction of a plant in the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
However, Northvolt struggled to achieve the output and the product quality demanded by its clients. In June 2024, German carmaker BMW cancelled a €2 billion battery cells contract with Northvolt after the company missed delivery deadlines.
Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in March 2025 after being unable to make a tax payment of roughly €20 million in Sweden. The company employed more than 5,000 people at the time.
US acquirer Lyten said it planned quickly to restart production in Northvolt’s flagship plant in Skelleftea and resume deliveries of lithium-ion batteries in 2026.
