Daimler buys out Evonik from Li-Tec and Deutsche ACCUmotive Li-ion companies; Daimler sole owner
01 April 2014
Daimler AG and Evonik Industries AG are restructuring their joint venture activities in the field of electric mobility. Daimler will acquire all of the shares held by Evonik in Li-Tec Battery GmbH (50.1%) and in Deutsche ACCUmotive GmbH & Co. KG (10%). This will make Daimler the sole owner of the two companies. The parties have agreed not to divulge the details of the agreement.
The two companies originally established their strategic alliance on automotive Li-ion cells in December 2008 (earlier post), with the resulting formation of the new joint venture (Deutsche ACCUmotive GmbH & Co. KG) and with Daimler’s acquisition of 49.9% of what was Evonik’s subsidiary Li-Tec. From the beginning, both partners sought the involvement of a third shareholder in Li-Tec with expertise in electrical and electronic systems integration.
In line with its systematic focus on specialty chemicals, Evonik said it had been seeking “new perspectives” for its lithium-ion business.
Li-Tec Battery GmbH is based in Kamenz near Dresden. With approximately 380 employees, it develops, produces and distributes large lithium-ion battery cells. The Li-Tec CERIO cells are the only mass-produced cells with Evonik’s ceramic SEPARION high performance separator and LITARION electrodes. Li-Tec currently targets automotive, stationary and grid applications of its cells.
Li-Tec cells are used in the current model of the smart fortwo electric drive. The electric version of the urban two-seater micro car was the market leader amongst all newly registered electric cars in Germany in 2013 with a market share of about 30%.
Deutsche ACCUmotive, established in April 2009 as a joint venture, made Daimler one of the few automobile manufacturers to develop batteries for automotive applications and also to produce them in Germany starting in 2012. Deutsche ACCUmotive had approximately 230 employees as of 31 December 2013.
The company’s headquarters and its research and development department are near Stuttgart in Kirchheim unter Teck/Nabern. Deutschen ACCUmotive’s production plant has been in Kamenz since 2010; a second production building went into operation there in July 2013.
Along the value chain for drive-system batteries with lithium-ion technology, we now have the two most important components: the production of battery cells and the related development and production of highly complex drive-system batteries as a combination of cells and battery electronics. In this way, we secure not only expertise in electric mobility, but also the sites in Kamenz and Kirchheim/Teck.
—Harald Kröger, Head of Development at Mercedes-Benz Cars Electrics/Electronics
More and more vehicle manufacturers (BYD, Nissan, Tesla, Mercedes, GM etc) are moving in EV batteries mass production.
This could be very positive to improve financing of future EV batteries development and diversity.
Posted by: HarveyD | 01 April 2014 at 08:11 AM
This means they are serious about BEV and HEV. Good.
Posted by: JMartin | 01 April 2014 at 12:09 PM
This was probably the play for most car companies all along. They knew if they owned their own manufacturing they would be more competitive. They will just buy the companies when they need to. A123 did not last long enough for that to happen.
Posted by: SJC | 01 April 2014 at 01:33 PM
And a few years down the road, after they have done that, as the chemistry and standards coalesce, they will divest the battery manufacturing, and two or three major companies will manufacture standard battery packs for the auto industry.
Posted by: JMartin | 01 April 2014 at 02:55 PM