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Lyten gives no purchase price for the acquisition

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Lyten backed by Jeep-owner Stellantis ( STLA ) and FedEx ( FDX )

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Lyten CEO expects battery cell deliveries to resume in

2026

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Deal includes Northvolt's projects in Sweden and Germany

(Adds comments from bankruptcy trustee and Sweden's deputy

prime minister in paragraph 5, also adds Scania in paragraph 7)

By Marie Mannes

STOCKHOLM, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. battery startup Lyten

has agreed to buy most of bankrupt Swedish battery maker

Northvolt, it said on Thursday, potentially offering a way back

for the European company that was once seen as the region's

answer to rivals in Asia.

Lyten, a Silicon Valley battery startup developing

lithium-sulphur cells as a cleaner alternative to lithium-ion,

is backed by Jeep-owner Stellantis ( STLA ) and U.S. delivery

services provider FedEx ( FDX ).

The deal revives hopes for European battery independence

after Northvolt - the continent's potential rival to major

Chinese electric vehicle battery makers - filed for bankruptcy

in March, making it one of Sweden's largest corporate failures

and sparking a frantic push to find a buyer.

"Our plans are ... in large part to pick up where the

Northvolt team left off," Lyten CEO and co-founder Dan Cook told

Reuters, declining to disclose the purchase price beyond saying

it was at a "substantial discount" to the original asset value.

Northvolt's bankruptcy trustee said that the deal defused

the risk of "complete shutdown", while Sweden's deputy prime

minister Ebba Busch said the deal positioned the country "as key

to Europe's energy independence.

Northvolt has received much criticism that it had

overpromised while failing to deliver battery cells deemed good

enough quality for clients, even with help from its biggest

customer, truckmaker Scania.

Gustaf Sundell, Scania's head of ventures and new business,

told Reuters it was too early to say if the group would place

orders for batteries with Lyten, but it was happy with the

outcome.

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Lyten hopes to quickly restart the flagship Skelleftea plant

in northern Sweden and resume deliveries of lithium-ion battery

cells in 2026. In July it acquired Northvolt's energy storage

business in Poland, Europe's largest, and is targeting

automotive, defence and energy storage markets.

Cook said several of Northvolt's former management would be

joining Lyten, though not founder and ex-CEO Peter Carlsson.

"We are focused on developing to be the leaders in locally

sourced, locally manufactured batteries for both the North

American and European markets right now," he said.

Lyten said in July it had secured more than $200 million in

additional equity investment to support its acquisitions and

expansion plans.

Cook said Lyten would prove its worth to Northvolt's former

customers by focusing first on providing high yields to a single

customer. Northvolt's order book once totalled more than $50

billion from automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen

and Audi.

"We actually think they'll come back, perhaps quicker than

people believe," said Cook.

The deal includes Northvolt's projects in Sweden and

Germany, as well as its intellectual property. Work was also

underway to acquire its Canadian unit.

Before its collapse, Northvolt expanded across the Atlantic

but later refocused on Sweden as its financial crisis deepened,

selling assets for nominal sums.