Verkor raises additional EUR 250 million in financing
Verkor has secured the support of the European Investment Bank. With it comes additional funding for its innovation centre in Grenoble, which is coming to completion.
Located in Grenoble, the VIC is Verkor’s technological and innovation centre: a 15,000 square metre building housing an R&D lab for designing high-performance batteries, an intelligent pilot line with a capacity of 150 MWh/year, and a training centre to meet the battery sector’s growing need for a specialised workforce.
“This announcement is a further concretisation of the efforts undertaken over the last two years to build the future of electric mobility in Europe. I welcome the support of our institutional and industrial partners to make our project a reality. I know we can continue to count on them for the next milestone of our development. I would also like to thank our team who, over and above their unwavering commitment every day, are betting on the future of our collective project,” says Benoit Lemaignan, CEO of Verkor in a press release.
Construction is already well underway, with delivery set for the first half of 2023, the press release continues. For the inauguration of its R&D lab, the company raised more than EUR 250 million, from and through: The European Investment Bank, Bpifrance Assurance Export, a convertible bond issue with financial partners like Demeter FMET and the SPI investment fund operated by Bpifrance on behalf of the French Government, the total acquisition of the Siemens site in Grenoble and the co-investment with GROUPE IDEC.
“The European Investment Bank is demonstrating its determination to build a better future using European technologies that address the urgency of the fight against climate change, as well as the objective to relocalise strategic value chains. After financing several other projects in the sector like the Northvolt Gigafactory in Sweden and those of Renault in Douai and Stellantis in Douvrain, the European Investment Bank is proud to join the ecosystem of public and private partners supporting Verkor as they reach their goals in France,” says Ambroise Fayolle, Vice President of the European Investment Bank.
As the construction of the VIC approaches its final stage, Verkor teams are now focused on financing the first Verkor Gigafactory with initial production capacity of 16 GWh/year in the Port of Dunkirk. This new investment on French soil, due for approval in the first quarter of 2023, will be in the region of EUR 1.5 billion and will create around 1,200 direct jobs, the press release concludes.
