Dagens Industri: Northvolt’s legal claims in Sweden face pushback
Northvolt’s effort to extend its US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to Sweden is encountering legal challenges. The company has requested that Swedish creditors withdraw their claims, warning of potential legal actions. However, experts note that these requests have very limited legal basis under Swedish law, as explained by Johan Lundberg, financing lawyer and CEO of RE:FI STHLM, in an interview with Dagens Industri.
For Swedish creditors, Northvolt’s requests are unlikely to hold legal weight, says Johan Lundberg, who has over 25 years of experience in financing and insolvency matters. Lundberg now leads RE:FI STHLM—the country’s first specialist firm in financing law. According to Lundberg, the company’s assertion that Chapter 11 jurisdiction automatically extends globally is incorrect and based on a misunderstanding.
“US insolvency proceedings like Chapter 11 are not recognised in Sweden. There are no agreements in place between Sweden and the US that would grant US court decisions legal enforceability here,” he explains. Only in the event that a Swedish creditor has assets or operations based outside of Sweden, such as in the US, would there seem to be reason to consider the current Chapter 11 proceedings in the US.
Despite Northvolt’s legal notices, the Swedish Enforcement Authority has continued its work and has seized SEK 22 million of the company’s assets over the past two months.
Read the full article in Dagens Industri here (in Swedish).
