Reliance acquires China’s Lithium Werks' assets for $61 million

Reliance New Energy (RNEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Lithium Werks BV  for a total transaction value of $61 million including funding for future growth.

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, the company said in a regulatory filing. 

Founded in 2017, through acquisition of certain assets of Valence and A123 industrial division,  Lithium Werks has nearly 200 MWh annual production capacity including coating, cell and custom module manufacturing capability. It is a leading provider of cobalt free Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP)  batteries, having 219 patents  including exclusive rights to produce superior LFP nano-technology, cell design, proprietary carbo-thermal reduction manufacturing method and several next-generation electroactive materials.

The company, in a statement said that the  combination of Lithium Werks with Reliance’s recently announced acquisition of Faradion, a global leader in sodium-ion cell chemistry, further strengthens the technology portfolio and provides it access to one of the world’s leading portfolio of LFP patents and a management team with vast experience of innovation in cell chemistry, custom modules, packing and building large scale battery manufacturing facility.

RIL says it will leverage the experience of these senior management teams, together with the technology and know-how gained through acquisition of Faradion and Lithium Werks, to establish an end-to-end battery ecosystem that will allow the company  to deliver not only manufacturing at large scale certain key supply chain materials like cathode, anode, electrolyte, but also a cell manufacturing facility including leading IOT/AI capabilities 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 RIL , said “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.”

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 complete by June 2022.