According to a Bloomberg report, the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) has written down its 400-million-US-dollar investment in Northvolt. The Swedish battery cell manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States in 2024 after an intended rescue funding fell through. IMCO had invested in the company via convertible bonds, making its largest European investment to date in 2023.
Multiple pension funds affected
Northvolt has reportedly 5.8 billion dollars in debt and has yet to find new lenders to emerge from bankruptcy. The Canadian pension fund, which manages about 77 billion Canadian dollars for public organizations in Ontario, has not commented on the write-down. According to the report, IMCO is not the only institutional investor to suffer financial losses as a result of Northvoltʼs insolvency. Several large Canadian pension funds had invested in the company, including the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec. European pension funds have also been affected, as the Swedish state pension fund has written off its entire holding, while the Danish ATP pension fund has suffered losses on its five-percent holding.
