Lite-On Technology Corporation is reportedly considering offering a financial lifeline to Tritium

Lite-On Technology Corporation is reportedly considering offering a financial lifeline to EV fast-charging business Tritium, which has struggled under the weight of almost $190m in losses.

A Taiwanese electronics company is believed to be in negotiations with embattled Brisbane EV fast-charging company Tritium for a strategic stake that may underpin its financial future.

Lite-On Technology Corporation is reportedly considering offering a financial lifeline to Tritium, which has racked up almost $190m in losses in the past year to expand its US operations.

However, there are doubts Lite-On, which has a market capitalisation of $12bn, will be the white knight that Tritium needs, with negotiations apparently stalling. Sources say there are other potential key stakeholders eyeing the business.

Tritium did not respond to emails.

The Nasdaq-listed Tritium, which has richlister Trevor St Baker as a stakeholder with 22 per cent among its major shareholders, unsuccessfully approached the Queensland government for a $90m equity stake tied to guarantees to keep its Brisbane factory open.

Mr St Baker told The Australian last week that an announcement on further funding for the company would be revealed soon and he was confident Tritium would survive. He declined to give further details at the time.

Mr St Baker, who was an early investor in Tritium and has provided at least 10 rounds of funding in the past decade, noted there “were a lot of loss leaders in the market”. He did not return phone calls on Friday.

Billionaire Brian Flannery, who owns about 5 per cent of Tritium, said he would not be investing any more money into the company after declaring its Brisbane factory, that employs about 400 people, could never make any money given high energy and labour costs in Australia.

Tritium, which was founded in 2001 by engineers David Finn, James Kennedy and Paul Sernia, has won deals with, among others, BP and Shell to supply fast chargers across the world.

Tritium, in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in September, revealed cash reserves over the past year had fallen from $US71m last June to $US29m.

Tritium’s share price is $US0.19c which gives it a market valuation of $US31.7m, well under the equity valuation of $US1.5bn at the time of the listing in May 2021.