Three export credit agencies have thrown their support behind a €4.4bn debt raising for a company building lithium battery gigafactories across Europe, the latest in a string of deals intended to beef up the continent’s renewable energy supply chains.  

France-based Automotive Cells Company (ACC) says Italian export credit agency (ECA) Sace, Germany’s Euler Hermes and France’s bpifrance have all agreed to support financing provided by a pool of commercial lenders.  

The facility will be used to fund the construction of lithium-ion battery production facilities in France, Germany and Italy, as well as research and development.  

BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING and Intesa Sanpaolo are the lenders on the deal.  

ACC did not answer questions from GTR about the structure of the facility, the roles of each bank and ECA and whether it is tied to exports. A spokesperson for Euler Hermes’ federal export credit guarantee division says it cannot comment for confidentiality reasons. Sace did not respond to a request for information.  

ACC has ambitions to become a “European champion” for battery cells and modules for electric vehicles. 

“With this world-class financial community supporting us, we see clear evidence of the confidence that is placed in the ACC project,” says Yan Vincent, ACC chief executive.  

“Beyond this operation, we will determine our needs as and when we conclude additional contracts. We are resolutely looking to the future, with a view to achieving our objective of growing our production capacities.” 

ACC’s three shareholders – Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Saft, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies – have also injected more capital into the joint venture and “plan to progressively increase their equity stakes in ACC”, the company says.  

Gigafactories in Europe have recently attracted significant investment from ECAs as part of a concerted EU effort to slash dependence on China for energy transition technologies.  

In January a group of European and Asian ECAs agreed to provide funding and guarantees for a US$5bn battery production plant in Sweden, billed as the largest green loan ever raised in Europe.  

In the same month, Sace announced support for a €560mn loan to fund Enel Green Power’s construction of a solar gigafactory.