LG Chem, LG Energy acquire 2.6% of battery startup Li-Cycle for $51 million

South Korea’s top chemical manufacturer LG Chem Ltd. and its battery affiliate LG Energy Solution Ltd. have acquired a combined 2.6% stake in Li-Cycle, a Toronto-based recycling startup, for 60 billion won ($51 million).

The two Korean companies said in a statement on Wednesday that they participated in the rights offering of Li-Cycle, the largest lithium-ion battery recycling firm in North America, for the stake purchase.

Separately, the companies signed a deal to receive a total of 20,000 tons of nickel from Li-Cycle over 10 years starting from 2023. The amount is enough to manufacture 300,000 batteries for high-performance electric cars with 80 kWh.

Established in 2016, Li-Cycle specializes in recovering key lithium-ion battery materials such as nickel and cobalt from scrap batteries.

The company also has the technology to extract raw materials from used batteries through an eco-friendly “wet process” that generates no dust and reuses 100% wastewater to minimize the discharge of harmful substances.

LG Energy Solution, Korea’s top battery maker, said in August its long-term goal is to set up a value chain in the EV battery business from mining raw materials to production and disposal of batteries.

At its Ochang battery plant in Korea, LG Energy Solution runs an EV charging energy storage system (ESS) made with recycled batteries.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang and Hyung-Kyu Kim at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.