THE Tanfield Group’s partners in its US division wants to buy out its electric vehicle operations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Smith Electric Vehicles US Corp (SEV US Corp) has made a bid for Tanfield’s Smith Electric Vehicle division, in Washington, Wearside.

SEV US Corp was only established in February last year by the Tanfield Group and US investors, but has enjoyed a successful year.

If the £37m deal is approved, it would include Tanfield’s 49 per cent stake in SEV US Corp, as well as all its British operations. Under the existing deal, Tanfield is licensing its property rights in exchange for a royalty payment from each vehicle sold.

If the buyout goes ahead, it would mean all the intellectual property relating to electric vehicles produced by Smith moving into the US investors control.

On top of the £37m, worth about 50p a Tanfield share, the company could receive an extra £33.3m if Smith floats before September 2015.

It is thought Smith’s British operations would continue if a deal is struck.

The Smith Newton truck is being used in the US by Coca- Cola, Staples, Frito-Lay, AT&T, Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Kansas City Power & Light.

SEV US Corp leases factory and office space at Kansas City International Airport.

The company received close to $3m in job training funds and other incentives from the state of Missouri and Kansas City to site the assembly plant in the region. In August, the company received a $10m (£5,894,488) US government grant for its new plant as part of a $2.4bn (£1.5bn) package for the electric vehicle sector, announced by US President Barack Obama.

In October, the month the first Smith Newton truck rolled off the US production line, the company announced it had received an additional $4.5m grant from the US government for 65 Smith Newton trucks through the US Clean Cities Program.

The same month, the company announced it had orders for 255 Smith Newton trucks.

Last month, the Smith Newton truck was added to the US General Services Administration (GSA) schedule.

The schedule is a list of products approved for purchase by all Federal agencies, and the US military.

Tanfield expects to issue its results for the year ending December 31, next month.

In its interim results for the half year to June 30, the company made a loss of £11m and indicated that no improvement in trading conditions was expected in the second half of the year.