Major shareholders of Northvolt have been writing down or reassessing the value of their holdings in the company. Due to the expected surge in electric vehicle demand failing to materialize in Europe, Northvolt has been unable to meet production targets and has been plagued by production issues and funding shortage.

Anonymous insiders from Reuters stated that Volkswagen's writedown was based on the entire fiscal year but did not provide the current value of the shares. According to public information, as of the end of 2023, Volkswagen reported a book value of €693 million ($726 million) for its Northvolt shares, a nearly 25% decrease from a year earlier. This value plummeted further during 2024. Sources also said that Volkswagen had written down its stake before Northvolt filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on November 21, so the writedown would not affect Volkswagen's annual performance. Volkswagen declined to comment.

According to another UK media outlet, the Financial Times, the second-largest shareholder of Northvolt, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs with a 19.2% stake, will write off its $900 million stake in Northvolt to zero by the end of the year.

Swedish pension fund AMF, also one of the top 10 shareholders of Northvolt, stated that it regularly assesses and adjusts the value of its holdings in unlisted companies, having invested 1.95 billion Swedish kronor ($178 million) in Northvolt over the years. "As is well known, the value of Northvolt is much lower than a year ago," the institution stated, without disclosing further details.

The sixth-largest shareholder, the Scottish fund, holds a 4.8% stake in Northvolt. As of the end of September, the fund valued its investment in the company at approximately £20 million ($25 million), significantly lower than the $375 million at the end of March.

Northvolt filed for bankruptcy protection under U.S. law on November 21, dealing a blow to Europe's ambitions to develop electric vehicle batteries and reduce dependence on Chinese competitors. At the time of filing for U.S. bankruptcy protection, Northvolt's cash was only enough to sustain operations for about a week: Northvolt's operations in California had about $30 million in cash, only enough to support operations for a week, while the company's debt was as high as $5.8 billion, including $3.13 billion from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and $1.54 billion in investor loans.

Peter Carlsson, Northvolt's CEO and co-founder, resigned last Friday, the day after filing for bankruptcy protection, stating that the company needs to raise $1 billion to $1.2 billion to revive its operations.

Northvolt employs approximately 6,600 people across 7 countries/regions. Through this bankruptcy protection filing, Northvolt has gained access to $145 million in cash collateral and has secured $100 million in new financing for the bankruptcy process: Volkswagen's commercial vehicle subsidiary Scania will provide a $100 million loan for its bankruptcy process.

At last Thursday's court hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo Perez approved some routine initial steps in Northvolt's bankruptcy, including allowing the company to pay wages owed to employees and draw the first $51 million of the Scania loan.

Northvolt plans to restructure its operations and will continue to operate during the bankruptcy reorganization process: the company's flagship battery gigafactory Northvolt Ett in Skellefteå, Sweden, and Northvolt Labs in Västerås, Sweden, will continue operations to increase production and fulfill commitments to customers. The restructuring is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

Northvolt's two factories under construction in Germany and Canada will not be affected by the bankruptcy protection proceedings, as these two factories belong to Northvolt AB's subsidiaries Northvolt Germany and Northvolt North America and are financed separately.

Reuters reported last Tuesday that the Swedish government has no plans to take a stake in Northvolt.