EVM acquire Battery Materials - including Oxford's Battery Technology Centre

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TBM Team

The global battery chemicals and tech company EV Metals Group (EVM) has agreed to buy the assets of Johnson Matthey’s Battery Materials. It will be sold for a total of £50 million in cash. As part of the deal Johnson Matthey will receive a small equity stake in EV Metals.

The purchase is set to include Johnson Matthey’s assets at the Battery Technology Centre in Oxford.

Liam Condon, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey, says: “Johnson Matthey made the decision to exit Battery Materials due to insufficient returns, increased commoditisation of battery materials combined with the need for very high capital investments to remain competitive. With EV Metals Group vision and capability to be a fully integrated battery chemicals business, I am very confident that they are the right owner for the Battery Materials business going forward."

"This important divestment means Johnson Matthey can now focus on our core portfolio and today I’ve outlined our new strategy, which explains how Johnson Matthey will create more value and help accelerate societal progress towards net zero.”

Michael Naylor, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EV Metals Group, had this to say about the purchase: “The acquisition of the Battery Materials Business is a strong strategic fit for EV Metals Group. It includes world class, leading technology for the production of cathode active materials."

"With our unique upstream, midstream and downstream business model, EV Metals is well positioned to drive the successful commercialisation of JM’s CAM technology, taking full advantage of the Group’s ‘mine to OEM’ integrated supply chain, which addresses the long-term market challenge of both surety of raw materials and the supply of processed materials.”

“EV Metals is committed to protecting all high-value, specialist jobs within JM’s battery materials business and to driving further job creation by building out a UK EV supply chain. We are pleased to welcome the technology team in the UK and Germany who developed the Johnson Matthey Battery Materials business to the EV Metals team. "

"We look forward to working with them to commercialise cathode active materials technology through the development of cathode active materials plants for electric vehicle and battery cell manufacturers in the UK and Europe, where demand is forecast to significantly outpace supply. We are also pleased to welcome Johnson Matthey as a shareholder of EV Metals Group.”

TBM Team