AMTE Power, which runs Thurso battery business, is facing 'critical financial situation'
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A THURSO-based battery manufacturer is facing an "ever more critical " financial situation and could go into administration.
AMTE Power, which runs the Caithness facility, has just made an announcement to the Stock Exchange in London and said it "continues to be in discussions with existing and potential investors concerning raising further finance" but it stresses that its position is becoming critical.
The statement says the company "needs to implement a solution within the next few business days."
Although talks are being held with existing and potential investors, there "can be no certainty of the outcome of these discussions, in which case putting the company into administration is ever more likely. In the event that the company is put into administration, trading of its shares ... would be suspended with immediate effect."
If the company is unable to secure additional funding the prospects for "recovery of value, if any, by shareholders would be remote."
The statement ends by saying further announcements "will be made as and when appropriate."
AMTE Power was founded in 2013 and is a leading UK developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells for specialist markets. In March 2021, the company was admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. It proposed launching a series of next generation battery cells designed to solve key problems in power delivery, energy performance, and safety. The new products were to be targeted at a range of specialist markets including the electric vehicle industry and energy storage sector.
The purpose-built cell manufacturing facility in Thurso, has the second largest cell manufacturing capacity in the UK and the company also has a product development team based in Oxford.
AMTE's proposed gigafactory in Dundee was expected to be capable of producing over eight million battery cells a year, and create more than 200 jobs.
The news comes as Jaguar Land Rover announced it is to build a large battery factory in Somerset, backed by a UK government funding package as part of a global race to secure manufacturing for the transition to electric vehicles.
