— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Following battery manufacturer Varta’s (Ellwangen, Germany; www.varta-ag.com) recent announcement to liquidate its capital, the company has now revised its turnover forecast for the current year. While Varta previously projected sales of EUR 820 mn to EUR 870 mn, the new figures are significantly lower at EUR 750 mn to EUR 800 mn. The company cites the weak energy storage market and fewer sales of large lithium-ion round cells as the reason for the decline. The large lithium-ion batteries are mainly in demand from the automotive industry – a sector that has been experiencing much strain.

This problem is now one that belongs to Porsche (Stuttgart, Germany; www.porsche.com), a new investor in Varta. Both parties have signed an agreement under which the Varta subsidiary V4Drive (Nördlingen, Germany; www.v4drive.com) will belong to the sports car manufacturer in future. Both parties expect the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2025, subject to the ongoing restructuring programme being legally confirmed and approved by the German competition authority – the Federal Cartel Office – including the capital liquidation, in which small investors will lose their money.

Related: Porsche to take majority stake in battery tech subsidiary

That being said, even the financially ailing Varta seems to assume that the restructuring of the group could take longer. Creditors have now granted short-term bridge financing of EUR 30 mn to ensure the battery manufacturer’s ability to operate until the restructuring has been completed.