Curator gives green light for relaunch of solar car Lightyear
Solar car maker Lightyear from Helmond is making a new start in a slimmed-down form, after the curator gave his approval on Friday. However, he will sell part of the stocks of the previously bankrupt company.
This also includes some (demo) vehicles of the first model Lightyear 0. This month there is a special online auction. With the money raised, the trustee may be able to partially compensate the creditors. On a viewing day on Wednesday 19 April, interested parties can come and see the cars in real life, says curator Reinoud van Oeijen.
Bankruptcy
After its foundation in 2016, Lightyear developed an electric car that is powered by solar cells on the roof. After some 200 million euros in investments, the Brabant company started the actual production of the first cars at the end of last year. In January, however, Lightyear suddenly went bankrupt. Thanks to a capital injection of 8 million euros from loyal investors, Lightyear was able to announce a restart plan in February. But the final restart still needed the approval of the curator. Van Oeijen indicates that he has now given his approval. “It was an extremely complex process,” he said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we were able to do this in a relatively short time. With many different interests and a complicated structure, it was not easy.”
New company
The relaunch takes place in a completely new company that will build mass model Lightyear 2. According to previous reports, this new company has room for about one hundred of the original more than six hundred employees.
“We have tried to represent the interests of employees from home and abroad as well as possible,” says Van Oeijen. “At the same time, we have also tried to limit the damage as much as possible for the creditors. This way there was a chance for a restart.”
All patents of Lightyear and solar cell subsidiary Lightyear Layer from Venray will also go to the new company that will be called Lightyear Technologies.
Source: https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/bedrijven/artikel/5375652/curator-geeft-groen-licht-voor-doorstart-zonneauto-lightyear
