So far this year, Nel is up more than 24 percent on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of NOK 26.9 billion. The company is among the most traded stocks on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Now the hydrogen company is being sued and must appear in the Oslo District Court at the end of March. DN learns that the background to the lawsuit is a disagreement over the future use of the company’s patents.
In 2015, Neil bought the technology from Rotoboost and Rotoboost At the same time he obtained a patent license. In a press release dated 2015, Rotoboost wrote that Nel had bought Rotolyzer technology that the company was going to use and develop into a commercial product, but that the patent is still with Rotoboost.
In March 2022, Rotoboost canceled the agreement with Nel, and now the companies disagree about the future use of the patent.
Rotoboost is a global hydrogen company with major facilities in Norway, Finland and China. The company was founded in 2009. The company offers hydrogen production Through electrolysis and pumps of heating and cooling devices.
Two days are allotted in the Oslo District Court. In the case of documents from the district court, it is stated that the case deals with dispute law and is of the “temporary injunction” type.
Technology purchased in 2015
Rotoboost wants a provisional decision that it should be able to develop the patent itself, and that Neil should not have the same opportunity, according to DN Experience.
Neil, for its part, believes that RotoPost has no basis for annulment of the agreement, and that RotoPost cannot seek a provisional decision from the court which would mean that Neil should refrain from developing patents.
Neither Rotoboost’s owner and general manager, Nel, nor attorneys representing the parties wish to comment on the case.
Neil’s director of communications, Lars Nermoen, wrote in an email to DN that the dispute concerns technology that Neil is not using commercially today.
– Moreover, we will present our view of the case in the courtroom, Nermoen writes.
Touched a new record
Despite Nel’s rise on the stock exchange in 2023, the stake has fallen by 50 percent since the peak in January 2021.
The company’s shareholder list is dominated by several Norwegian and international investment funds and companies, with Blackrock as the majority owner, with less than five percent of the shares.
The hydrogen company announced in October that it had entered into a NOK 600 million agreement with Woodside Energy. The global energy company is based in Australia and had sales of NOK 74 billion last year.
Woodside will build a hydrogen plant in Oklahoma, USA, where Neil will provide equipment for the first stage.
Thus, the record from July, when Neil received an order for NOK 460 million, was touched.
A new quarterly report is just around the corner
From the company’s third-quarter report, it appears that it had sales of NOK 183 million, and its operating profit ended at minus NOK 260 million. Profit before tax ended at minus 262 million in the third quarter.
In comparison, Neil had sales of NOK 229 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and had a profit before tax less NOK 508 million.
On Tuesday of this week, the company will present its results for the fourth quarter.(conditions)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We’d like you to share our statuses using links that lead directly to our pages. Reproduction or other use of all or part of the Content may be made only with written permission or as permitted by law. For more terms see here.
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