May 15, 2025: Troubled Toronto-based lithium battery recycling firm Li-Cycle said on May 14 it had filed for and received bankruptcy protection in Canada as it starts a formal sale of its business or assets.
The firm’s US units also launched proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Li-Cycle’s announcement came just a few weeks after Batteries International reported a further bleak financial outlook for the firm — which warned it might be unable to continue as a going concern.
In addition to the latest filing, Li-Cycle confirmed it had entered into a $10.5 million debtor-in-possession financing and a ‘stalking horse’ credit bid for at least $40 million with mining giant Glencore, its largest secured creditor. That arrangement is subject to court approval.
Li-Cycle said previously it had been working to cut costs and seek financing and “strategic alternatives” to fund its business.
However, the board said the firm’s special committee of independent directors had since determined that it was in the best interests of the company to launch proceedings under Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
The company’s board of directors and management will remain responsible for the day-to-day operations of Li-Cycle under the general oversight of monitors during the CCAA proceedings.