SKC invests USD 33 million to start next-generation anode material business for batteries
Nov 02, 2021
Seoul [South Korea], November 2 (ANI/Global Economic): SKC has started its 'silicon anode material' business in earnest, a next-generation material for secondary battery cells that improves driving mileage and charging speed of electric vehicles (EV).
Currently, it is in the early stages of commercialization, and SKC is pushing forwards its new businesses such as silicon anode materials and planning to speed up 'Financial Story,' a five-year growth strategy.
SKC held a board meeting on the 1st and announced that it decided to invest $33 million (about 38.7 billion won) in Nexeon, a silicon anode material technology company in the U.K., by establishing a consortium with private equity firms SJL Partners and BNW Investment.
The investment amount of the three companies is $80 million (about 93.9 billion won). SKC and BNW consortium will invest 51% and SJL Partners will recruit investors to participate in the consortium.
SKC is the main operator of the consortium, and once related procedures such as business combination report are completed, it will secure part of Nexeon 's stake and silicon-carbon anode material technology business rights.
Silicon anode materials are used by mixing with conventional graphite anode materials. The higher the content of the silicon anode material, the better the mileage of the EV and the charging speed of the secondary battery.
The market outlook is also bright. The size of the silicon anode material market, which was $400 million last year, is expected to grow to $2.9 billion in 2025 and $14.6 billion in 2030. The silicon anode material is divided into a low content (within 15%) and a high content (more than 15%) depending on the silicon content in the cathode, and currently, the low content silicon anode materials is in an early stage of commercialization.
Nexeon is a technology startup established in 2006 and has the technology to mass-produce silicon anode materials with excellent price competitiveness and performance in a short period of time. In particular, it holds the most important patents related to silicon anode materials.
SKC is planning to enter the silicon anode material market by combining its global mass production and marketing capability accumulated for a long time with Nexeon's technology. First of all, SKC will commercialize low-content anode materials independently to enter the global market, and set a joint venture with Nexeon to commercialize high-content products in line with the market opening. (ANI/Global Economic)
