SES, a Lithium-Metal Battery Supplier for Electric Vehicles, to List on NYSE via Combination With Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition Corp. (NYSE  185  0 Kommentare  IVAN)

The transaction will create the first publicly-traded hybrid Li-Metal battery company that combines the high energy density of Li-Metal with cost effective manufacturability at scale. The transaction is supported by strategic investors and global automakers that include General Motors (NYSE: GM), Hyundai Motor Company (KS: 005380) and Kia Corporation (KS: 000270), all of which are parties to existing automotive A-sample joint development agreements (“JDA”) with SES, as well as Geely Holding Group (HK: 0175), SAIC Motor (SHA: 600104), LG Technology Ventures, and Foxconn (2354.TW), key global automakers and battery cell manufacturers in Asia, the world’s largest EV market.

Upon completion of the proposed transaction, the combined company will operate under the SES name and be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SES”.

The transaction values the combined company at a pro forma implied equity value of approximately $3.6 billion (inclusive of a $300 million earn-out) with total expected gross proceeds of $476 million (assuming no redemptions by Ivanhoe’s public shareholders). Including expected transaction proceeds and existing cash on SES’s balance sheet, SES is expected to have over $600 million of cash at transaction close, which will help fund the company’s future growth and transition into its commercialization phase in 2025.

Founded in 2012 as a spin-out company of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SES operates two battery-prototyping facilities in the U.S. and China. The company’s hybrid Li-Metal battery is expected to enable the next generation of high-range and affordable EVs. The hybrid Li-Metal approach provides the superior energy density of Li-Metal via the proven manufacturing efficiencies of lithium-ion batteries.

SES’s hybrid Li-Metal batteries use a high-energy-density Li-Metal anode, a protective anode coating, a proprietary high-concentration solvent-in-salt liquid electrolyte, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) safety features that allow for greater performance and manufacturing efficiencies than today's all-solid-state Li-Metal batteries. SES entered into its joint development agreement with Hyundai and Kia in May 2021 to develop “A-Sample” Li-Metal batteries for Hyundai’s EVs. This followed the March 2021 announcing of a joint development agreement with General Motors, a supporter of SES since 2015, to deliver a high-performance “A-Sample” Li-Metal EV battery at a new pre-production manufacturing facility in the Boston, Massachusetts area.