To identify and secure the 2 billion euros, Verkor went through a new fundraising, a Series C (1). This fundraising, which reached 850 million euros, includes early supporters such as Renault, but also Crédit Agricole and BPI France. Verkor highlights that Macquarie Asset Management becomes the main investor in the latest Series C fundraising.
In addition to these 850 million euros, Verkor received assurance of bank financing of 600 million euros from the European Investment Bank. This part is repayable, it is debt. Finally, the State but also local authorities like Dunkerque Grand Litoral are putting their hands in their pockets and subsidizing around 650 million euros.
It must be said that the stakes are high: the electric vehicle and especially the supply of batteries. Verkor, like others, wants to establish itself in France for its low-carbon electricity (thanks to nuclear power). This ultimately makes it possible to offer low-carbon battery cells. But, they will also be “high performance” to interest manufacturers and create great added value for the Dunkirk.
More than 4,000 jobs generated
In addition to the “gigafactory” (2), there will be a research center, the Verkor Innovation Center (VIC). The factory and research center should bring an entire industrial ecosystem behind them, throughout the battery value chain. Snowball effect, this should lead to direct jobs, but also a lot of indirect jobs. This is also why the Dunkirk community is subsidizing the project.
This project attracts several players around it, other than the pure and simple automobile industry. For example, we find Pulse. This is the energy fund of CMA CGM, a global player in maritime transport. The shipowner is interested in the decarbonization (3) of the entire logistics and supply chain.
In the subsidies, in addition to the State within the framework of the “France 2030” plan, we therefore find the urban community of Dunkirk, but also the Hauts-de-France Region which sees in all these projects a formidable lever of dynamism and return for employment in a region which has long been devastated by the closure of mines and factories. The Region contributes 60 million euros, the urban community of Dunkirk 30 million euros.
All this is subject to regulatory approval.
