It has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faction Ltd. for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million (around ₹1,000 crore)
Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd. (RN ESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faction Ltd. (Faction) for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million (around ₹1,000 crore).
In addition, RN ESL 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, Faction 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,” RI L said in a statement.
Reliance said it would use Faction’s technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage Gigafactory at Jamnagar, India.
Mukesh Ambani, RI L 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 Faction management and accelerate its plans to commercialize the technology through building integrated and end-to-end gig a 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, Faction said, “Becoming part of the Reliance group validates the incredible work our team has done in advancing sodium-ion technology. Together with Reliance, Faction can bring British innovation to India and globally, as the world increasingly looks beyond lithium.”
Dr. Chris Wright, Chairman and Co-Founder of Faction, said, “Dr. Jerry Barker, Ashwin Kumaraswamy and I founded Faction in 2010 to develop sodium-ion technology and bring it to market, with funds from Mercia Asset Management.”
“This deal with Reliance firmly establishes Faction’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.
Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RN ESL), the green energy arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RI L), has signed an agreement with sodium-ion battery technology provider Faction Limited to acquire a 100% stake for £94.42 million (~$127.42 million). Faction has an enterprise value of around £100 million (~$134.96 million).
The UK-based sodium-ion battery technology company has extensive IP portfolios covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology. It had a turnover of £197,561 (~$266,683) in 2020. In 2020, Faction had announced a partnership with Informs Logistics Technologies to provide batteries for commercial vehicles in the Indian electric vehicle market.
RN ESL will acquire 88.92% of Faction’s shares for £83.97 million (~$113.32 million) at closing, expected in early January 2022. The remaining 11.08% shares will be acquired within three years for around £10.45 million (~$14.10 million).
RN ESL will also subscribe to Faction’s new equity shares for £31.59 million (~$42.63 million). Of this, £25 million (~$33.74 million) will be used to accelerate the commercial rollout and the balance for debt repayment and other fees. Reliance will use Faction’s state-of-the-art technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage Gigafactory at Grubhub Am bani Green Energy Gig, a Complex Project in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The sodium-ion battery technology does not utilize cobalt, lithium, copper, or graphite and has an energy density in par with lithium-ion phosphate. The battery also has a wider operating temperature range of -30℃ to +60℃. The manufacturer can utilize existing lithium-ion manufacturing infrastructure to produce sodium-ion batteries, which has low-cost compared to lead-acid batteries.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of RI L, said, “We will work with Faction management to accelerate its plans to commercialize the technology by building integrated and end-to-end Gig a scale manufacturing in India. “
Faction's acquisition comes after Reliance’s recent investment and acquisitions in the renewable energy sector. In October 2021, RN ESL signed an agreement with Shampooer Gallon and Company to acquire a 40% stake in Sterling and Wilson Solar through a combination of primary investment, a secondary purchase, and an open offer.
During the same month, RN ESL acquired REC Solar Holdings, a Norway-headquartered solar cell, modules, and poly silicon manufacturing company, from China National Blue star Group for $771 million. It also said that it would invest €25 million (~$29 million) in Nescafé, a Germany-based solar wafer manufacturer.
Earlier this year, Reliance announced that it would invest ₹750 billion (~$10 billion) to build an integrated solar photovoltaic factory, advanced energy storage battery manufacturing unit, green hydrogen, and fuel cell facility in Gujarat’s Jamnagar.
According to Marco Capital Group’s 9M and Q3 funding and M&A Report for storage, Grid and Efficiency, the sector witnessed 15 battery storage merger and acquisition transactions in 9M 2021 compared to 11 transactions in the same period last year.
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