Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday announced acquisition of assets of cobalt-free lithium battery technology company Lithium Werks for USD 61 million, as it builds technology and material wherewithal for setting up an end-to-end battery manufacturing.
“Reliance New Energy Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd, has today signed definitive agreements to acquire substantially all of the assets of Lithium Werks BV for a total transaction value of USD 61 million including funding for future growth,” the company said in a statement.
The assets include the entire patent portfolio of Lithium Werks, manufacturing facility in China, key business contracts and hiring of existing employees as a going concern.
Incorporated in 2017, Lithium Werks is a cobalt-free lithium battery technology and manufacturing company, with operations in the US, Europe and China and customers worldwide.
Its batteries are used in industrial, medical, marine, energy storage, commercial transportation and other highly demanding applications.
This is the second acquisition by the oil-to-retail conglomerate in the battery business. Last September, the firm had announced it will invest in sustainable technologies including batteries, electrolyzers for hydrogen production, and fuel cells to create a multi-billion-dollar clean energy portfolio.
The company subsequently formed a series of partnerships and acquisitions in fields including hydrogen and photovoltaic cells.
In January, it paid USD 135 million to purchase Faradion, a UK start-up developing sodium-ion batteries.
Lithium Werks is a leading provider of cobalt free and high-performance lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
With the recent resurgence in demand for LFP batteries, Lithium Werks is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the global opportunities before it through its integrated portfolio of LFP solutions, the statement said.
“The combination of Lithium Werks with Reliance’s recently announced acquisition of Faradion Limited, a global leader in sodium-ion cell chemistry, further strengthens Reliance’s technology portfolio and provides it access to one of the world’s leading portfolio of LFP patents and a management team,” it said.
The company plans to leverage the experience of senior management teams, together with the technology and know-how gained through acquisition of Faradion and Lithium Werks.
This will allow Reliance to establish an end-to-end battery ecosystem for manufacturing at large scale key supply chain materials such as cathode, anode, electrolyte, giving it the flexibility to produce batteries and battery module systems consisting of different chemistries for various applications across energy storage and mobility.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, said, “LFP is fast gaining as one of the leading cell chemistries due to its cobalt and nickel free batteries, low cost and longer life compared to NMC and other chemistries. Lithium Werks is one of the leading LFP cell manufacturing companies globally and has a vast patent portfolio and a management team which brings tremendous experience of innovation across LFP value chain.”
“Along with Faradion, Lithium Werks will enable us to accelerate our vision of establishing India at the core of developments in global battery chemistries and help us provide a secure, safe and high-performance supply chain to the large and growing Indian EV and energy storage markets,” he said.
Joe Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Lithium Werks, said, “This deal means increased resources and expanded global reach, while leveraging our experienced team and IP portfolio and providing scale and momentum to help drive our product innovation, capacity expansion and accelerate our clean energy strategy.” The transaction is subject to certain regulatory and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed by June 2022.
