LG Chem, LG Energy Solution buy stake in Canadian battery recycling company

SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's largest chemical company, and its subsidiary LG Energy Solution Ltd. said Wednesday they have jointly acquired a stake in a Canadian lithium-ion battery recycling company.

LG Chem and the battery maker LG Energy Solution invested 30 billion won (US$25.3 million) each to acquire a 2.6 percent stake in the Toronto-headquartered Li-Cycle, in a recent rights offering, the two companies said in a press release.

They also signed a supply deal with Li-Cycle to secure 20,000 tons of nickel for the South Korean companies over the next 10 years starting 2023, they said. The amount is enough to manufacture batteries for 300,000 electric vehicles.

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

The company also has the technology to extract the material off used batteries in an environmentally friendly way that can minimize the discharge of harmful battery materials, according to LG.

elly@yna.co.kr
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