Tech giant's deal for Johnson Matthey battery plant at Billingham

A global battery chemicals and technology company has bought the assets of Johnson Matthey’s Battery Materials business for £50m - including the Billingham research centre, plant and laboratories.

It now says it will look at recruiting as the businesses merge.

Read more: 150 jobs on Teesside at risk as major Billingham factory to close

It was announced in January that about 150 people were at risk of redundancy as a result of a proposal to shut the factory. The division was put up for sale last year but discussions had not resulted in an agreement to sell the entire business as a going concern.

About 150 people work in the company's battery materials division at its Chilton site in Billingham, out of a workforce of about 500 in the town.

But today Michael Naylor, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EV Metals Group, said: “We are delighted to have acquired Billingham and secured jobs, but our aim is to not only protect those existing roles but to invest and create a significant number of additional jobs and opportunities. We see significant expansion potential in the area and look forward to engaging with the local community.”

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."

Michael Naylor, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EV Metals Group Michael Naylor added:  “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.”

EVM says the deal enables the site to become part of a much bigger plan to help EVM become a vital supplier of high purity chemicals and Cathode Active Materials (CAM) to the fast-growing electric battery market.

EVM’s integrated business spans upstream mining assets with key battery metals, midstream chemical processing and now, through the Billingham deal, the downstream production of CAM for global electric vehicle and battery cell manufacturers.

Cathode Active Materials are one of the most important components that determine efficiency, reliability, costs, durability and the size of the lithium-ion battery, and therefore its application.

The deal will create a new force in the EV supplies market and sees Johnson Matthey take a minority equity stake in EVM and a seat on the board.

The Battery Materials business assets being acquired include:

• Battery Technology Centre at Oxford, Oxfordshire

• Battery Technology Centre at Billingham

• Pilot plant and laboratories at Billingham,

• A package of patents, licenses, know-how, show-how and other intellectual property rights.

• The technical group of 100 personnel with the expertise to develop and implement CAM Technology for the commercial production of pre-CAM and CAM

• Battery Technology Centre in Moosburg, Germany

• Konin CAM Plant in Poland (under construction)

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