WACKER invests in Nexeon and takes stake

Nexeon - the company developing and supplying battery materials for rechargeable Li-ion batteries - has increased its strategic partnership with globally active chemicals company WACKER Chemie AG. The agreement will see WACKER invest an undisclosed sum in Nexeon and take a 25% stake in the business.

The two companies have worked together intensively in the recent past, and this latest move is clear validation of the technical approach that Nexeon is taking to develop and supply materials into this growing market. WACKER's expertise will be especially useful as Nexeon achieves increasing customer engagement, and scales to higher manufacturing volumes of its silicon based anode materials.

Silicon is being used in place of carbon in the anodes of rechargeable Li-ion batteries, and is on the road map of most of the world's automotive OEMs and consumer devices companies. Silicon based anodes provide higher cell energy density leading to greater vehicle range and higher performance.

"WACKER is well aware of our technology and its potential, so this expansion of our partnership is strong validation of our approach", said Dr Scott Brown, CEO of Nexeon. "The expertise of a strong manufacturing partner is especially useful as we plan the ramp up of our materials supply in volume and speed terms. We look forward to working even more closely with our partners in the coming months."

"Today's agreement is a key step in renewing our partnership with Nexeon, and intensifying our research activities into silicon based anode materials for next-generation batteries", said Christian Hartel, responsible for R&D on WACKER's Executive Board. "We are ideally positioned to develop and produce these innovative materials, given our decades of in-depth expertise in silicon chemistry."