Glencore, one of the world’s biggest mining and commodity trading companies, was among lenders that provided emergency funding for Britishvolt, according to people familiar with the situation.
Glencore provided less than £5-million ($5.7-million) in short-term funding to the company that’s at the heart of Britain’s bid to create an electric-car battery industry, said the people, who declined to be identified as the situation is private.
The less than three-year-old business said earlier Wednesday that it will receive a bridging loan that will give it a few weeks to secure longer-term finances. Britishvolt said it’s pursuing “positive ongoing discussions” with potential funders and has received approaches from “several more international investors in the past few days.”
The company, which previously already had backing from Glencore, is a key part of the UK’s ambition to build facilities capable of providing batteries for millions of electric vehicles. However, it is yet to secure funding to build one of the biggest cell factories.
Representatives for Britishvolt and Glencore declined to comment.
The bridging loan is not expected to unlock government funds that depend on the construction of the plant going ahead. Bloomberg News reported last month that Britishvolt had discussed a sale of its site to Inobat, a company chaired by former Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer.