Morrow Batteries files for bankruptcy
Norwegian battery manufacturer Morrow Batteries is filing for bankruptcy for its parent company and two subsidiaries. The announcement came on May 6 — less than four weeks after the company reported that it had begun cell deliveries to Finnish Proventia and was scaling up production at its factory in Arendal.
The board of Morrow Batteries ASA announced on May 6, in a press release, that it had resolved to file for bankruptcy proceedings. The same decision was made by the boards of subsidiaries Morrow Technologies AS and Morrow Industrialization Center AS.
The timing is striking. In January, the company declared Commercial SOP – the start of commercial series production – describing it as an important milestone. In April, cell deliveries to Proventia began under a long-term supply agreement running to 2031, and production in Arendal was being scaled up. The company had also signed its first commercial agreement within the defence industry, covering deliveries to a German company. Despite all of that, the liquidity ran out.
"The Board regrets that it was not possible to secure a limited additional timeframe to complete the ongoing process of securing a new industrial investor and financing the group. Several of the ongoing efforts had reached an advanced stage but could not be concluded within the constraints imposed by the group’s liquidity situation," the press release states.
The board describes the background as complex. Morrow has been operating in a capital-intensive industrialisation phase, while the global battery market has been hit by oversupply and price pressure — driven largely by low-cost competition. Rising capital costs, delays in the industrialisation process, and an increasingly cautious investment market compounded the difficulties.
Since its founding, Morrow has been financed through equity contributions from shareholders, including Å Energi, Siemens Financial Services, ABB, Maj Invest, Nysnø and Noah, totalling approximately NOK 3.3 billion, as well as shareholder-guaranteed loans of over NOK 500 million. Innovation Norway provided loans totalling NOK 550 million, of which nearly NOK 300 million has been spent. The company also received grants of NOK 202 million from European and Norwegian public funding programmes. Siva, as an industrial real estate investor, invested NOK 542 million to build the specialised factory building in Arendal that it leases to Morrow.
The Agder District Court is expected to appoint a bankruptcy administrator shortly. Employees are covered by Norway's wage guarantee scheme administered by NAV.
"What has been achieved at Morrow is the result of extraordinary dedication, resilience, and belief through a period of significant challenges. While this chapter comes to an end, the knowledge, technology, and capabilities developed here represent lasting value," said acting CEO Jon Fold von Bülow in the press release.
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