Think Global, a Norwegian electric-car maker, has fallen into bankruptcy for the third time and 13 months after raising a further $40m from venture capitalists and corporate venturing units.
In a regulatory filing, US-based battery maker Ener1 said it was taking a $35.4m charge for loans to Think "based on the announcement by Think Global that, following an extended and ultimately unsuccessful search for long-term financing, it will file bankruptcy proceedings in the Norwegian courts on June 22".
Ener1 added: "This amount [$35.4m] is subject to change to the extent that we receive any recovery as a result of the liquidation of Think Global; we presently believe that any such recovery, to the extent it occurs at all, is not likely to be significant."
US-based VC firm RockPort Capital Partners and Ener1co-led the oversubscribed funding round in May last year and both increased their investment in Think by $12.5m.
They were joined by Think’s existing shareholders: Finnish car maker Valmet Automotive, Norwegian state investment fund Investinor and US-based VC Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The company has now raised $87m since a bankruptcy restructuring in August 2009 and had previously raised $85m, according to newswire www.pehub.com, including investment from General Electric.
Think is the same company behind the original Th!nk electric car that went on sale in the US during the late 1990s under vehicle maker Ford‘s ownership. Ford sold it in 2003 to Swiss company Kamkorp Microelectronics and it first became bankrupt in 2006.