Norway’s Freyr clinches USD 1.4bn go-public deal

Norwegian lithium-ion based battery cell developer Freyr AS has agreed to combine with blank check company Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp (NYSE: ALUS) to create a publicly-traded entity with a post-deal equity valuation of USD 1.4 billion (EUR 1.32bn).

The combined company will be named Freyr Battery and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol FREY, a press release said on Friday. Current Freyr investors are expected to own a stake of about 30% upon completion.

The agreed deal is expected to provide USD 850 million of net proceeds to the combined company. These include a USD-600-million fully committed private investment in public equity, or PIPE, from strategic and institutional investors, including a unit of Koch Industries, Glencore, Fidelity Management & Research Co, Franklin Templeton, Sylebra Capital and Van Eck Associates Corp.

Freyr manufactures high-density and cost competitive lithium-ion batteries with a reduced carbon footprint for the electric mobility, stationary energy storage, marine and aviation applications markets. The company aims to become one of Europe’s largest battery cell suppliers. It is targeting development of up to 43 GWh of battery cell production capacity in Norway by 2025.

Alussa Energy is a special purpose acquisition company headquartered in the Cayman Islands that went public in November 2019, raising USD 250 million from its initial public offering (IPO). It is headed by CEO Daniel Barcelo, who was a portfolio manager at Moore Capital Management as well as a former managing director of oil and gas at Renaissance Capital in Moscow.

The tie-up hinges on the approval by shareholders of both companies and standard closing conditions. The parties anticipate wrapping up the transaction in the second quarter of 2021.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.825)

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