STOCKHOLM -- Swedish battery maker Northvolt said on Wednesday it had secured $1.6 billion in debt financing, as part of its plan to have a 25 percent market share of European mobile battery production.
Last year, Volkswagen Group and BMW agreed to fund Northvolt's plan to build Europe's largest lithium ion battery plant.
Northvolt said the loan was financed by a group of banks, pension funds and other public institutions such as the Nordic Investment Bank. The company said that the capital would be spent on expanding its factories and on research and development.
"The momentum for electrification is stronger than ever. Our customers need large volumes of high-quality batteries with a low CO2 footprint, and Europe must build a fully regionalized value chain to support them," Northvolt CEO and former Tesla executive Peter Carlsson said in the statement.
Lithium ion batteries are key for electric cars and smartphones and Northvolt aims to be Europe's main rival for Asian players CATL, Samsung and LG Chem, which are leaders in the battery market after locking in supply deals with automakers.
