Manz AG, a globally active high-tech engineering company with a comprehensive technology portfolio, is acquiring a 40% stake in CUSTOMCELLS Tübingen GmbH and further expanding the cooperation already in place for several years. The CUSTOMCELLS Group is developing and manufacturing advanced lithium-ion battery cells.

The group recently gained international recognition through the establishment of a joint venture for cell production with Porsche AG. (Earlier post.) The combination of CUSTOMCELLS’ cell development expertise with Manz AG’s long-standing know-how as a high-tech equipment manufacturer is a significant step for the development and production of next-generation, highly efficient battery cells.

As a high-tech engineering company, Manz has already been one of the innovation drivers and technology leaders in the field of battery production for years. The investment in CUSTOMCELLS Tübingen GmbH is a consequent step towards sustainably strengthening this outstanding positioning and also, in the context of the European battery funding project EuBatIn, an important component for realizing our ambitious goals.

One focus of the cooperation with CUSTOMCELLS is the development of production capacities for lithium-ion battery cells for customers from the aviation sector, who have particularly high demands on the power density and safety of the battery cells. With the pilot production facility being built at CUSTOMCELLS in Tübingen, we are creating an environment in which we will develop new cell and equipment concepts for such growth industries.

—Martin Drasch, CEO Manz AG

The goal of the collaboration is to support CUSTOMCELLS' customers in further scaling their production capacities with the processes that have initially been developed jointly on a smaller scale. In addition to battery-powered aviation with its extremely high-quality standards, existing relationships with CUSTOMCELLS’ customers in the automotive and electronics industries will also be further expanded.

The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the investment.