North East battery business EV Metals 海角视频 collapsed with debts of 拢47m after its owners placed it into administration, new documents show.
The company was acquired two years by Australian battery chemicals and tech company EV Metals Group (EVMG) when it snapped up the assets of Johnson Matthey鈥檚 Battery Materials business in a 拢50m deal in that included the firm鈥檚 site in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and part of the Billingham research centre, plant and laboratories on Teesside.
However, a new report from the joint administrators 鈥 appointed in August 鈥 shows that the business failed to bring in any revenue, and that its former CEO Dan Baker, who resigned last year, even advised group bosses to sell off the business to an interested party within months of taking up his role.
Former owners Johnson Matthey retained ownership of the Billingham building and had agreed a deal to lease part of the property to EV Metals 海角视频 鈥 but EV Metals workers haven鈥檛 been able to get into the building for months after failing to pay rent, and owes around 拢17.23m to its landlord, including 鈥渟ubstantial rent arrears鈥.
An estimated financial position document shows that parent company EVMG is owed an estimated 拢22m, while staff are owed 拢421,470 in redundancy and notice payments and more than 拢98,000 in pension contribtions. Trade creditors are owed an estimated 拢6m and unsecured creditors are owed 拢22.5m. Meanwhile HMRC is said to be owed 拢1.04m but funds available for preferential creditors total just 拢184,220.
One part of the report includes background of the company鈥檚 affairs which was supplied to administrators by Michael Naylor, a director at EV Metals, who claims that the business was led to believe it would gain contracts after taking over the Teesside and Abingdon sites, but that no deals surfaced. Its Australian owners pledged to continue to support the 海角视频 business, however.
Michael Naylor鈥檚 report says: 鈥淭he principal activities of the company were to offer testing and technology development services for high-quality battery materials to customers based in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America, although it had not yet generated revenue from customers at the date of the administration.
鈥淓VMG entered into a Facilities Agreement in November 2022 to provide the company with up to 拢7m to meet costs whilst contracts were sought with OEM battery manufacturers. In particular, JM led the company to believe that a contract with Sociedad Qu铆mica y Minera (SQM) would be assigned to the company. This assignment did not occur, and consequently prevented the company from securing an immediate revenue stream to fund the company, and as a critical supply contract, further undermined the ability of the company to implement the business plan of commencing commercial scale production of Cathode Active Materials.
鈥淚n December 2022, Dan Baker, who had been working for the company for just over three months, proposed the sale of the 海角视频 assets and transfer of personnel to an interested party due to concerns over funding the on-going operations of the 海角视频 assets.鈥
In early 2024, Mr Naylor claims that Johnson Matthey had begun to sell assets and had taken steps to re-let the sites, a move the company director said 鈥渟ignificantly damaged commercial negotiations with potential investors鈥. However, the lease had been forfeited by this point.
The company was eventually put into administration when HMRC and the French authorities demanded a payment of overdue taxes and pension payments, and attempts to secure bridging finance could not deliver funds on time.
The administrators added that discussions continue with strategic investors, to produce a proposal to purchase the assets of the company and resolve back rent issues.
A Johnson Matthey spokesperson said: 鈥淭he process is at an early stage, so we must see what the administrators conclude into the circumstances of EV Metals 海角视频 Ltd鈥檚 administration. Johnson Matthey is wholly committed to its Billingham site and the wider operations it runs in Teesside.鈥
