VLTA Volta Inc

By Adriano Marchese

Volta Inc. has been invited to enter a due-diligence process by the U.S. national energy department after applying for a special government-program loan in mid-2021, money it needs to avoid bankruptcy.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, the San Francisco-based electric vehicle infrastructure company received a letter from the U.S. Department of Energy's Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program, which is part of the Renewable Energy Projects and Efficient Energy Projects Solicitation.

Under this program, Volta applied for a loan in early August 2021 and the DOE Loan Programs Office's invitation to enter into the due diligence process includes the LPO performing its own due diligence on Volta's electric vehicle charging station installation program.

Additionally, the filing noted that if Volta's proposed transaction with Shell USA Inc., originally announced in January, doesn't go through, it risks going into bankruptcy.

Volta Inc. is being bought by Shell USA Inc., a subsidiary of Shell Plc, in an all-cash transaction valued at $169 million.

The filing said Volta doesn't have enough capital to continue to operate the business without raising any new debt or equity capital, which may not be available either and said that even if it does receive a loan from the DOE program, that it won't be enough to fund the project fully.

In this case, Volta would need to begin voluntary bankruptcy proceedings.

The due diligence process is expected to take between three and six months, according to the filing.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 22, 2023 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT)

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