Britishvolt has been acquired by Australian battery technology company Recharge Industries.

The UK lithium-ion battery manufacturer filed for administration in January after facing financial difficulties last year.

The move comes as Recharge Industries develops what it describes as Australia’s first large-scale lithium-ion cell product facility.

In November, Britishvolt abandoned plans to build a new factory in Canada after reports of financial difficulty.

At the time, the battery manufacturer said it would focus on its main project of attempting to build a factory near Blyth in north-east England capable of producing batteries with a capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (30GWh) every year.

The Financial Times reported that £100 million of funding for the almost £4 billion Blyth Gigafactory had failed to materialise.

Recharge Industries said that the buyout will mean that the UK can finally develop its first Gigafactory, which will play a “critical role” in the UK’s industrial and net zero strategies.

“We are thrilled to have been successful in our bid for ownership of Britishvolt; our plans are the right ones for the local community and the UK economy,” said David A. Collard, founder and chief executive of Recharge Industries’ parent company Scale Facilitation. “Our proposal combined our financial, commercial, technology and manufacturing capabilities, with a highly credible plan to put boots and equipment on the ground quickly.”

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