Think, the Norwegian electric vehicle manufacturer, has announced that the Norwegian courts have approved its debt settlement plan, enabling the company to exit court protection.

Effectively, this puts Think back in business and in a position to resume normal operations in terms of the manufacture and sale of new electric vehicles, including its latest City model.

A significant capital increase has also been arranged to enable the company to immediately start production.

The company continues to be backed by a group of investors, made up of some individual Norwegian investors as well as venture capital and clean-tech investment firms from the USA and the UK.

In addition, some new investors have joined the shareholder group as part of the capital increase, which is worth some $47 million in total capital introduced and conversion of interim financing to equity. The equity transaction is scheduled to close next week.

Named investors are: USE-based Ener1; Valmet Automotive from Finland; and Investinor, the Norwegian government-backed investment fund.

Production at Think’s existing assembly facility in Aurskog, Norway, will be suspended indefinitely in light of the agreement with Valmet Automotive, resulting in approximately 85 employee positions being affected across the company.