Arcadium Lithium has acquired the lithium metal business of Li-Metals, a company focused on developing and commercialising lithium metal production technologies to address supply chain challenges.
The acquisition is valued at $US11 million ($16.9 million) and includes Li-Metals’ intellectual property, proprietary know-how and physical assets related to lithium metal production, including a pilot metal production facility in Ontario, Canada.
Arcadium Lithium will now assume operations of Li-Metal’s Ontario facility to continue commercialising the lithium metal production technology.
To support Li-Metal’s lithium metal anode commercialisation, both companies have entered into a supply agreement under which Arcadium Lithium will provide lithium metal to Li-Metal.
Acquiring Li-Metals’ lithium metal business is set to complement Arcadium Lithium’s existing lithium metal processing technologies at its Bessemer City facility in North Carolina, US, which uses concentrated lithium chloride from its Güemes plant in Salta, Argentina.
“We are excited to welcome the (Li-Metals) team to Arcadium Lithium as we look to lead the way in developing cutting-edge lithium carbonate to lithium metal production technology,” Arcadium Lithium president and chief executive officer (CEO) Paul Graves said.
“This small but important acquisition gives us a platform to advance new and better process pathways for manufacturing lithium metal.
“The ability to produce lithium metal from lithium carbonate will give us additional flexibility to utilise our vertically integrated network of assets while reducing the need for third-party lithium metal.
“This will further enhance the competitiveness of our butyllithium and lithium specialty chemicals business and help us create the scale needed to meet the growing demand for next generation battery materials developed from lithium metal.”
As part of the acquisition, Li-Metal co-founder and chief technology officer Maciej Jastrzebski has stepped down from his roles at Li-Metal and has entered into a consulting agreement with Arcadium Lithium to ensure the smooth transition of the Li-Metal technology and team to Arcadium Lithium.
Li-Metals CEO Keshav Kochhar welcomed the acquisition.
“The sale of our lithium metal technology to Arcadium, North America’s largest established lithium metal producer, represents a pivotal milestone in Li-Metal’s journey,” Kochhar said.
“This transaction validates the exceptional work of our dedicated team in advancing lithium metal production through our patented carbonate-to-metal process. The capital generated from this sale allows for continued development of our ultra-thin, high energy density anodes for next-generation batteries.
“This investment will further solidify our commitment to pioneering innovations in battery technology.”
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