2023-09-14 18:30:17
A record fundraising for a young French company which will make it possible to build an electric battery factory in Dunkirk. Quite a symbol. Verkor announced, Thursday September 14, that it had brought together “more than 2 billion euros”to set up his project.
The factory, whose first work has already started, should be operational in 2025, with 1,200 direct jobs and an initial production of 16 GWh per year. Three other “gigafactories” are also planned in the region.
The project brought together “at least 850 million euros” from private investors, a level never reached by a young French company. The two main contributors, who also become the two largest shareholders, are the Australian fund Macquarie and the French investment fund Meridiam, created in 2005 by Thierry Déau, who notably took over Suez and which is becoming a major player in the energy transition. . In 2015, he created a fund dedicated to this sector, which today represents more than 2.4 billion euros.
Meridiam will inject 200 million euros into the capital of Verkor. For its part, Macquarie would have committed to an equity investment of 500 million euros.
Among the other shareholders, there is also the Strategic Participation Fund (FSP), which brings together seven major French insurers and speaks of a “major investment”. The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bpifrance also responded.
For its part, Renault, which had already committed to buying three quarters of Verkor’s production, once again subscribed to the financing round. “During the discussions, the amounts committed increased gradually as the financial commitments made by the State, which played a decisive role in attracting private investors”underlines a source close to the matter.
A slew of public subsidies
In total, the subsidies amount to 650 million euros. The State alone grants 560 million euros as part of the France 2030 plan, the Hauts-de-France region provides 60 million and the urban community of Dunkirk 30 million euros. These payments must still be validated by the European Commission, which should not pose any problems. The Commission has just validated the public aid of 1.5 billion euros granted to the Taiwanese Prologium which will also open a battery factory in Dunkirk in 2026.
Europe shows that it is “capable of supporting this industry” in the same way as the United States with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), underlines Benoît Lemaignan, president and co-founder, in 2020, of Verkor in Grenoble. On the X network (formerly Twitter), the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, also welcomed the operation which “sends a strong signal about our reindustrialization ambition”. “France is attracting, reindustrializing, decarbonizing its economy, creating jobs! »he said.
Ironically, this announcement comes the day after the decision taken by the European Union to launch an investigation into the subsidies granted by the Chinese authorities to their battery and electric car manufacturers.
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