DN: Easee is doing mass layoffs and should raise a billion after the Swedish ban

On Wednesday of this week, the news came that the Swedish regulatory authorities had stopped selling Easee chargers in Sweden.

Electricity company Tibber is among those who have temporarily stopped selling chargers from their online store as a result of the news.

Since then, there have been crisis meetings at the Norwegian company, which began in 2018. Til today’s work Managing director Jonas Helmkstuhl says they need to raise between half and a billion kronor.

– We have to collect money. He told the newspaper, we have to get the money quickly.

Helmikstøl says he is an eternal optimist, and when asked if the owners will be severely diluted as shareholders, he replies:

– I do not care. The most important thing is that Easee survives.

More than 100 have been laid off

Easee’s manager says it will also be necessary to lay off more than 100 employees.

– In Norway, the company has 350 employees. Many of these are now redundant. The company’s management did not begin to think about what would happen to the 150 overseas employees. Cuts must come quickly to keep costs down. So far, the bank hasn’t coughed up any money, Helmkstull tells DN.

He adds that they will do whatever they can to get the staff back.

The shipping company is now in talks with its bank, DNB. They have also contacted ABG Sundal Collier and Sparebanken 1 Markets to set up an issuance, without choosing a financial advisor yet.

“Easy does not entirely agree with their claims, and has thoroughly documented Security Solutions — both technically and legally. During today, Friday, February 17, the company is filing a temporary injunction and appeal,” Eazy wrote in a press release.

Dealing with appeals

In mid-February, the Swedish Electricity Authority (ESV) started asking more questions about electric vehicle chargers. Among other things, they cited a lack of ground fault protection and problems with overvoltages.

The Swedish Safety Agency immediately adopted a ban on the sale of Easee chargers this week. Eazy responded by saying that they strongly disagreed with the decision and were working to appeal the ban.

– Our customers can safely continue shipping, as usual, and don’t need to do anything. We will continue to fight against this decision,” Helmkstull said.

Then the National Communications Authority (Nkom) stated that banning sales in an EEA country, as a rule, entails the same thing in all EEA countries.

– Nkom is concerned that the products sold in Norway are safe, and we will follow the situation in Sweden closely. At the same time, we are looking into what specific measures are needed to take in this situation,” said department director John Eyvind Filior.