Johnson Matthey Plc (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, announces that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of part of its Battery Materials business to EV Metals Group, a global battery chemicals and technology business.
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The sale includes Johnson Matthey’s assets at the Battery Technology Centre in Oxford & Battery Technology Centre and pilot plant in Billingham, a research centre in Moosburg, Germany and the partly constructed site in Konin, Poland. The sale does not include Johnson Matthey’s LFP facility in Canada, which will be acquired by Nano One®, a clean technology innovator in battery materials, as announced yesterday – see more here
The sale also includes Johnson Matthey’s eLNO® technology, underpinned by the GEMX® and CAM-7® cathode platforms that the company licensed from CAMX. EV Metals Group will continue to develop eLNO, building on the successful customer testing programme that Johnson Matthey had undertaken.
The Battery Materials business will be sold for a total consideration of £50 million in cash and Johnson Matthey will receive a minority equity stake in EV Metals.
In our interim results we fully impaired the carrying value of our battery materials assets as at 30th September 2021, resulting in a charge of £314 million, and announced on 12th January 2022 that we anticipated additional cash costs up to £150m. After taking into account the proceeds of this sale these net additional cash costs are now expected to be no more than £50m. The transaction is expected to complete over Summer 2022.
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.”