Lion Electric, the company that supplied faulty electric buses to schools in Maine, is on the brink of bankruptcy, Montreal’s La Presse reported Monday.
The Quebec-based company supplied at least 17 electric buses through the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean School Bus grant to schools in Maine, with four in the Winthrop Public Schools.
Lion Electric reportedly had until Nov. 30 to pay a $22 million loan from two Canadian investors, along with another $117 million loan taken out through a bank, but the deadlines have been pushed to Dec. 16. The company also has a long-term debt of $293 million, the news outlet said, further reporting that the public company might leave the stock exchange.
Now, the company reported on Dec. 1 that it laid off 400 employees, nearly half of its workforce, and has two weeks to close a deal with investors or else Lion Electric might have to seek protection from …