Reliance Solar Energy Arm Acquires 100 Per Cent Stake In UK-Based Battery Firm Faradion

Sheffield and Oxford-based Faradion is a leading global battery technology company that has patents of sodium-ion battery technology

New Delhi: Reliance New Energy Solar, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100 per cent stake in Faradion Limited for £100 million (over Rs 1,000 crore), RIL said on Friday.

In the stock exchange filing, RIL said, “Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the firm, has entered into an agreement with Faradion Limited (Faradion) and its shareholders for acquiring 100 per cent of the equity shares of Faradion through secondary transactions for a total value of £94.42million based on an enterprise value of £100 million.”

Faradion is a leading global battery technology company that has patents of sodium-ion battery technology. The Sheffield and Oxford-based firm has a wide range of IP portfolios covering many aspects of the sodium-ion technology.

The RIL subsidiary will acquire 88.92 per cent of the equity shares of Faradion for an aggregate consideration of £83.97 million at closing which is expected in early January 2022, while 11.08 per cent of the equity shares of Faradion within three years from closing for an aggregate consideration of up to £10.45 million, the regulatory filing said.

According to RIL, the conglomerate will use Faradion’s state-of-the-art technology at its proposed fully integrated energy storage giga-factory as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project in Jamnagar.

RIL’s Chairman Ambani said in a statement, “This will further strengthen and build upon our ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated new energy ecosystem and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies. The sodium-ion technology developed by Faradion provides a globally leading energy storage and battery solution which is safe, sustainable, provides high energy density and is significantly cost competitive. In addition, it has wide use applications from mobility to grid scale storage and back-up power.” He added that this technology will help the company enable, accelerate, and secure large scale energy storage requirements for the RIL’s electric vehicle partners.