Another lithium ion player seems to have gone into “financial runaway”, leaving its workers without pay and an ominous silence from its communications team.
Oakridge Global Energy Solutions, a US-based lithium-ion battery manufacturer, has been reported to have stopped paying its employees, since November 2016, after it announced its ambitions to the industry.
Two years ago, the company announced it would boost the workforce from 25 to 1,000 employees by 2018 as it ramped up commercial production of its large format Pro Series golf cart batteries and small format “Patriot” Series RC batteries.
Oakridge’s tax incentives from the state of Florida had been approved. The incentives were based on Oakridge’s promise of one thousand jobs creating an annual $50,075 payment, and a $270 million capital investment.
The firm’s new Hong Kong subsidiary, Oakridge Global Energy Solutions Limited, had bought 11,000,000 shares of Leclanche S.A. – the first time the Swiss lithium-ion firm has had a strategic battery industry shareholder.
Oakridge said with the capital funding from its major shareholder, Precept Fund Management and a new strategic investor, “the company will not be seeking external funding for its business activities from the capital markets and will be internally funded.”
The company’s documents list several ambitious movements, including the expansion of the company’s existing office in Hong Kong, the establishment of a new corporate office in Japan, a new distribution centre on the West Coast of the US, and even a plan for a globally syndicated TV show named “New To The Street”.
BBB has not heard back from the Oakridge on its financial position.