Funds managed by Goldman Sachs will write off almost $900mn after Swedish battery maker Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. Goldman’s private equity funds have at least $896mn in exposure to Northvolt, making the US bank its second-largest shareholder. They will write that down to zero at the end of the year, according to letters to investors seen by the Financial Times.
But “despite our extensive efforts as a minority shareholder to bring Northvolt’s various shareholders together, a comprehensive solution was not found”, it said in the letters to shareholders. Goldman’s private equity business was established in 1986 and sits within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which has over $3tn in assets under supervision, including over $500bn in alternative investments such as private equity.