Provaris seeks to acquire bankrupt Norwegian firm making its H2 proto-tanker

ASX-listed hydrogen ship developer Provaris (ASX:PV1) has announced its intentions to acquire European Prodtex Industri.

The latter firm has recently been hit with bankruptcy struggles, throwing a spanner into the works of Provaris’s overarching mission – to design a revolutionary hydrogen-powered tanker.

The tankers will also transport the transition fuel, according to original conceptions. The only problem is, Prodtex is doing the actual building of Provaris’s tanker.

The company, previously named Global Energy Ventures, rebranded to Provaris in recent history, but its underpinning value proposition didn’t change. The company has also been busy securing maritime regulatory checks and approvals in recent years.

That was all going well, until Prodtex Industri went under. Provaris’s only existing prototype hydrogen tank is now, for all intents and purposes, ‘trapped’ inside Prodtex’s warehouse.

The Prodtex bankruptcy hit the books back in early June, stalling development.

But good news could be around the corner. “Key personnel from Prodtex AS are co-operating with Provaris in the development of plans to recommence the Prototype Tank program,” Provaris wrote on Monday.

According to the company, key manufacturing staff familiar with the project are also to be retained – all things in order.

Notably, “Provaris is developing a detailed proposal to the Lenders to acquire the Fiskå Facility and related plant and equipment based on a long-term operational plan for the construction of smaller scale hydrogen tanks.”

Should an outright acquisition fail, that mightn’t spell the end of the project.

Provaris reported on Monday multiple Prodtex lenders are in conversations with the company with a view towards the project.

PV1 last traded at 3cps.