by HoneyRoastHoax »
07 Jan 2014 09:51
Ener1, a maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric-drive vehicles and a major investor in now-bankrupt electric-vehicle maker Think, has gone bankrupt itself.
Ener1, which was also making batteries for the Norwegian automaker, said late last week that as much as $81 million in debt will be restructured (see below) as part of its Chapter 11 filing. The company's stock was de-listed from the Nasdaq stock exchange in December.
New York-based Ener1 appears to have been pulled down by the failure of Think, which in September 2009 received a $118.5 million grant from the U.S. government but which still went bankrupt last June. Ener1 last August had to restate its 2010 losses to $165 million from $69 million because of the failure of Think. Think has since been acquired by a group headed by Russian investor Boris Zingarevich, who is also a major investor in Ener1.
Ener1 last September announced changes to its senior leadership team, including the resignation of Charles Gassenheimer, the man formerly in charge as the Chief Executive Officer of Ener1. The president of Ener1 and CEO of EnerDel, Christopher Cowger, replaced Gassenheimer as CEO.
UPDATE: We received the following clarification from Westcomm, doing PR for Ener1:
The story mentions that the company stated that as much as $81 million in debt would be restructured as part of the filing. The $81 million is actually the amount of equity funding the company will receive after exiting bankruptcy. It is outlined in the third paragraph of the press release.
Also, the reporting regarding the grant has a slight error.
Below are some points that will help clarify the situation:
Ener1 is the parent company of several subsidiaries, including EnerDel.
EnerDel, not Ener1 was awarded the Department of Energy (DOE) grant. To date, EnerDel has received 50/50 cost-share reimbursements of approximately $55 million, for which it had to originally invest $55 million of its own funds.