iQ Power

iQ Power is a Swiss public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft) headquartered in Zug, founded in Canada on 20 December 1994. Its business purpose is the development, manufacture and distribution of lead-acid accumulators, primarily used as starter batteries for motor vehicles, with plans to expand into industrial batteries. On 10 November 2004 the company moved its legal seat to Switzerland and its development, production and sales base to Germany. Since October 2006 it has been listed in the General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. From its founding, iQ Power financed itself predominantly through capital measures rather than operating revenue. In 2007 and 2008 it generated revenues of only EUR 31,000 and EUR 53,000 respectively, against expenses of EUR 6.8 million and EUR 7.3 million. The largest expense items were remuneration to the board of directors and management (EUR 2.9 million and EUR 2.3 million), while research and development consumed just under EUR 1.4 million and EUR 1.2 million. The company's activities drew critical commentary from specialist quarters, notably harsh criticism from ARD-Börse, and it was unable to dispel doubts and open questions. The resulting loss of confidence was reflected in a roughly 80 percent collapse in the share price within six months up to 3 March 2009, leaving a market value of about EUR 8 million. On 4 March 2009, for lack of financing, bankruptcy was filed at the Zug district court. The bankruptcy proceedings were revoked on 29 May 2009 after all creditors submitted waivers. Following the lifting of insolvency, a capital increase of EUR 13 million excluding shareholders' subscription rights was carried out, enabling iQ Power to realign its business. Cooperation agreements for the production and distribution of batteries were concluded. The company generated revenue of EUR 9.284 million in 2010 with 21 employees at year-end, and EUR 10.841 million in 2011, with a pre-tax loss of EUR 10.849 million. In 2012 iQ Power signed a licensing and development agreement with the Brazilian battery manufacturer Moura to jointly develop so-called EFB starter batteries. Also in 2012 iQ Power sold its Slovenian plant Interbat (retaining a 15 percent minority stake and a licence for the use of iQ technology as part of the contract) and focused on the licensing business. In January 2015 shareholders approved a reverse-merger transaction in which iQ Power AG merged into iQ Power Licensing AG. Shortly afterwards iQ Power Licensing took over an R&D company in Chemnitz. In 2018 iQ Power Licensing initiated a merger with the US technology group Engenavis; the transaction (including bridge financing) resulted at the end of 2018 in the founding/renaming of iQ International AG with its seat in Zug. Financially the company ran into difficulty in 2021: the board of directors applied for a provisional debt-restructuring moratorium (Nachlassstundung), and the Cantonal Court of Zug granted a definitive moratorium in November 2021, in each case under court supervision. In 2023 the Zug courts opened bankruptcy proceedings over iQ International AG.

iQ Power was founded on 20 December 1994 in Canada. On 10 November 2004 the company relocated its legal seat to Switzerland (Zug) and its development, production and sales base to Germany. Since October 2006 it has been listed in the General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company's purpose is the development, manufacture and distribution of lead-acid accumulators, mainly as starter batteries for motor vehicles, with plans to enter the industrial battery business. From its founding, iQ Power financed itself predominantly through capital measures. In 2007 and 2008 revenues were only EUR 31,000 and EUR 53,000 respectively, against expenses of EUR 6.8 million and EUR 7.3 million. Remuneration to the board and management (EUR 2.9 million and EUR 2.3 million) formed the largest expense items, while R&D consumed just under EUR 1.4 million and EUR 1.2 million. The company's activities were critically commented on by specialist quarters, especially by ARD-Börse, and it could not dispel doubts and open questions. The loss of confidence showed in a share price drop of about 80 percent within six months up to 3 March 2009, leaving a market value of about EUR 8 million. On 4 March 2009, for lack of financing, bankruptcy was filed at the Zug district court. The bankruptcy proceedings were revoked on 29 May 2009 after all creditors submitted waivers. After the lifting of insolvency, a capital increase of EUR 13 million excluding shareholders' subscription rights was carried out, enabling iQ Power to realign its business. Cooperation agreements for the production and distribution of batteries were concluded. The company generated revenue of EUR 9.284 million in 2010 and employed 21 people at year-end. In 2011 revenue was EUR 10.841 million, with a pre-tax loss of EUR 10.849 million. In 2012 iQ Power signed a licensing and development agreement with the Brazilian battery manufacturer Moura to jointly develop so-called EFB starter batteries. In 2012 iQ Power sold its Slovenian plant Interbat (retaining a 15 percent minority stake; licence for the use of iQ technology as part of the contract) and focused on the licensing business. In January 2015 shareholders approved the reverse-merger transaction in which iQ Power AG merged into iQ Power Licensing AG. Shortly afterwards iQ Power Licensing took over an R&D company in Chemnitz. In 2018 iQ Power Licensing initiated the merger with the US technology group Engenavis; the transaction (including bridge financing) resulted at the end of 2018 in the founding/renaming to iQ International AG with its seat in Zug. Financially the company ran into difficulty in 2021: the board of directors applied for a provisional debt-restructuring moratorium (Nachlassstundung); the Cantonal Court of Zug granted a definitive moratorium in November 2021 (in each case court-supervised). In 2023 the Zug courts opened bankruptcy proceedings over iQ International AG.

• 2023

  Zug courts opened bankruptcy proceedings over iQ International AG.

• 2021

  Board applied for provisional debt-restructuring moratorium; Cantonal Court of Zug granted definitive moratorium in November 2021.

• 2018

  Initiated merger with US technology group Engenavis; transaction resulted in founding/renaming to iQ International AG with seat in Zug at end of 2018.

• 2015

  In January 2015 shareholders approved reverse merger of iQ Power AG into iQ Power Licensing AG; shortly afterwards took over an R&D company in Chemnitz.

• 2012

  Licensing and development agreement with Brazilian battery manufacturer Moura for EFB starter batteries; sold Slovenian plant Interbat (retaining 15% minority stake).

• 2011

  Revenue of EUR 10.841 million and pre-tax loss of EUR 10.849 million.

• 2010

  Revenue of EUR 9.284 million and 21 employees at year-end.

• 2009

  Bankruptcy filed on 4 March 2009; proceedings revoked on 29 May 2009 after all creditors submitted waivers.

• 2006

  Listed in the General Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since October 2006.

• 2004

  Legal seat moved to Switzerland (Zug) and development, production and sales base moved to Germany on 10 November 2004.

• 1994

  Founded on 20 December 1994 in Canada.

Developer and licensor of lead-acid starter battery technology, with a focus on licensing after 2012.

• Lead-acid starter batteries for motor vehicles

• EFB starter batteries

• Industrial batteries (planned)

1. 1iQ Power - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2IQ Power - Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org