Microvast eyes options after US energy dept cancels $200 mln grant
May 24 (Reuters) - Microvast Holdings (MVST.O) is considering all its options, the lithium battery maker said on Wednesday, after U.S. Energy Department canceled a $200 million grant following lawmakers' concerns over its alleged links to China.
"Neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese Communist Party has any ownership in the company, nor do they control or influence company operations in any way," Microvast CEO Yang Wu said in a statement.
The grant, which stemmed from U.S. $1 trillion 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, was to help Microvast build a plant in Tennessee.
Two Republican lawmakers criticized the decision to grant funding in a letter last December to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, saying Microvast had ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that raised "serious concerns about the department's ability to protect U.S. taxpayer dollars."
Shares of the Texas-based company rose 6.4% in early trade. The stock tumbled 36.4% on Tuesday following the decision.
The grant was further targeted to support work by General Motors (GM.N) and Microvast on developing specialized EV battery separator technology.
There will be some timing impact on bringing the separator technology to market now owing to U.S. DOE's decision as it came as a "surprise", Microvast said.
(This story has been refiled to correct a typographical error in paragraph 1)
Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Source: Reuters
