Clifford Chance Advises On €4.4 Billion Debt Raise From Automotive Cells Company

European automotive battery manufacturer, Automotive Cells Company (ACC), co-owned by Stellantis, Mercedes and Saft (a wholly owned subsidiary of TotalEnergies), closed a €4.4 billion debt raise, to finance the construction of three gigafactories for lithium-ion battery cell production in France, Germany, and Italy, and for R&D. It represents one of Europe’s largest-ever debt raises in this industry.

The operation will accelerate the development of ACC and strengthen its position as a key player in the battery industry to equip high-performance, low-carbon electric vehicles.

After the grand opening of its first gigafactory in Billy-Berclau Douvrin (France) in May 2023, ACC started production in December 2023.

The successful financing of this project represents a crucial milestone for further industrial developments to meet growing demand. This is marked by the launch of the construction of the second production line at the French site, preceding the start of construction for ACC's gigafactories in Germany and Italy.

ACC's production capacity will ramp-up until it reaches 120 GWh in 2030, spread across three countries and representing an annual production of two million batteries.

The financing is fully underwritten by a consortium of commercial banks (BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING and Intesa Sanpaolo) and partly backed by European export credit agencies namely Bpifrance, Euler Hermes, and SACE.

A cross-practice and multi-jurisdictional team of Clifford Chance advised the lenders (BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING and Intesa Sanpaolo) and the export credit agencies (Bpifrance, Euler Hermes and SACE). That team was led by Daniel Zerbib, partner, and composed of Gauthier Martin, partner, Fabien Jacquemard, counsel, Nina Yoshida, Ophélie Han Fing and Benoît Offe, associates, in Paris; Russell Wells and Edward Bretherton, partners, Massimo Amoruso, director, Ope Osinubi and Amber Miller, senior associates, and Thomas Hobbs Martin, associate, in London; Florian Mahler, partner, Nicolas Cookson and Bahar Rahimyar, counsel, Birte Huller, senior associate, and Giuseppe Chiaula, associate, in Germany; as well as Chiara Commis and Filippo Tassoni, counsel, Giovanni Fierro, associate, and Gabriele Costanzo Piccinino, trainee lawyer, in Italy.