Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd. (RNESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faradion Ltd. (Faradion) for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million (around ₹1,000 crore).
In addition, RNESL has also agreed to invest GBP 25 million as growth capital to accelerate commercial roll out.
“Based out of Sheffield and Oxford in U.K. and with its patented sodium-ion battery technology, Faradion is one of the leading global battery technology companies. It has a competitively superior, strategic, wide-reaching and extensive IP portfolio covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology,” RIL said in a statement.
Reliance said it would use Faradion’s technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage giga-factory at Jamnagar, India.
Mukesh Ambani, RIL chairman, said, “This [acquisition] will further strengthen and build upon our ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated new energy ecosystem and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies.”
“We will work with Faradion management and accelerate its plans to commercialise the technology through building integrated and end-to-end giga scale manufacturing in India. We believe this will be one of our many steps that will also enable, accelerate, and secure large scale energy storage requirements for our Indian partners developing and transforming India’s EV mobility and transport sector,” Mr. Ambani said.
James Quinn, CEO, Faradion said, “Becoming part of the Reliance group validates the incredible work our team has done in advancing sodium-ion technology. Together with Reliance, Faradion can bring British innovation to India and globally, as the world increasingly looks beyond lithium.”
Dr. Chris Wright, Chairman and Co-Founder Faradion, said, “Dr. Jerry Barker, Ashwin Kumaraswamy and I founded Faradion in 2010 to develop sodium-ion technology and bring it to market, with funds from Mercia Asset Management.”
“This deal with Reliance firmly establishes Faradion’s sodium-ion batteries as an integral part of the global value chain for cheaper, cleaner, more sustainable energy for decades to come,” he said.
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