Zapgo Ltd (08679765): administration
- Status
- Administration ended
- Administration began
- 2020-07-23
- Administrators' firm
- Grant Thornton
- Formerly
- Zapgocharger Ltd; London Graphene Ltd
- Incorporated
- 2013-09-06
- Location
- Manchester
- Industry
- 72190 Other research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering
Why it went into administration
- COVID-19
- Funding withdrawn / unable to refinance
From the administrators' statement
In early 2019 forecasts showed that ZapGo would soon be short of working capital. The Board appointed Grant Thornton to perform an accelerated merger and acquisition review. They concluded that whilst Generation 3 was close to commercialisation, it was Generation 4 technology that was most attractive and required further develapment and investment. However, the debt structure of the Company was off-putting to new investors.
In summer 2019 Nikola Corporation (“Nikola”) expressed an interest in the business, and a Letter of Intent (“Lol”) was issued. Once the Lol was issued Nikola funded ZapGo's overheads and development running costs.
Unfortunately, Nikola subsequently pulled out of the deal in February 2020, but the terms of the Lol meant the Board were unable to seek further investment from elsewhere.
Administrators' statement of proposals (2020-09-15) · Companies House register