Liquidators have been appointed to electric vehicle battery group Xerotech just months after it said it was planning to raise up to €30 million this summer, with investors having already ploughed about €44 million into the company.
Xerotech, which was founded 10 years ago by then-student Barry Flannery (32) from his parent’s garden shed, employs upwards of 130 people. The group manufactures batteries for large industrial electrical vehicles and has about 40 customers on its books.
Mr Flannery, who was named as a finalist in the “established” category of this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards, told The Irish Times in November the company counted Enterprise Ireland and the Western Development Commission among its backers.
He said he expected to close a €20-30 million fundraise in the summer, and that the company was talking to investors in the United States and was close to getting it over the line.
Mr Flannery said Xerotech had so far has raised €44 million from Irish sources, mostly from family offices linked to some familiar names, including Dónal Daly, who sold Avoca Capital to KKR in 2014, and City Bin founder Gene Browne.
The most recent accounts for the business show it made a loss of €5.9 million for the year ended December 2021, pushing its accumulated deficit to €7.4 million.
Mr Flannery resigned as a director of the company in December, along with a number of non-executive directors.
The appointment of liquidators follows a serious fire at the group’s manufacturing facility at the Claregalway Corporate Park in Co Galway last month. The blaze, which took three days to bring under control, led to the evacuation of several businesses and two schools in the area.
It was the second such incident to occur at the plant following an earlier fire in 2022 that also led to the evacuation of nearby businesses.
In a statement issued to Galway Bay FM in recent weeks, the company said the fire had a direct consequence on its ability to raise the necessary capital to continue operations.
It said notices had been issued to employees, creditors, and shareholders regarding official meetings to wind up the company.
It said a process was ongoing to seek out potential buyers for the business and its assets, which it added could facilitate continued investment in its products and retain some employment.
Luke Charleton and Alan Large of EY-Parthenon were appointed as joint liquidators to Xerotech Limited on Monday.
The liquidators said they were aware of the incident that occurred at the Xerotech site prior to their appointment and “will be seeking to ensure the continued safety at the site while in occupation”.
“The joint liquidators are commencing a process to seek out potential purchasers for the trade and other assets of Xerotech,” they said in a statement.
“The aim of this sales process will be to sell the trade and assets to secure the Xerotech business and to protect employment if possible.”
