BASF will acquire the electrolytes business for high-performance batteries from German Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company Merck. The companies have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.
The acquisition comprises the technologies and products for enhancing battery performance that Merck has developed, patented and brought to market. These include the complete line of finished electrolyte formulations which are marketed under the Selectilyte brand. Also included is a variety of additives for electrolytes used to produce lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The transaction also covers Merck’s research portfolio with respect to novel electrolytes and additives. In this way BASF is strengthening its LIB electrolytes business by adding innovative solutions for its customers.
“This acquisition enhances the expertise we offer to automotive and battery manufacturers around the world. We emphasize again our goal of positioning BASF as a solution-oriented partner to battery manufacturers in this dynamic market,” said Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Member of the Board of Executive Directors and BASF’s Research Executive Director, and added, “The electrolyte portfolio developed by Merck and their established market channels will provide additional impetus to our efforts to develop into a reliable supplier of electrolyte formulations offering innovative and customized solutions for battery manufacturers.”
A BASF technician assembles a lithium-ion battery. Image: BASF
“Our successful electrolytes business has excellent prospects for the future within BASF. We are pleased to say that the customers and development partners of Merck will have a reliable and very innovative new supplier in BASF – a supplier who will continue to promote the future topic of electromobility powerfully,” said Dr. Klaus Bofinger, who leads Merck’s unit Advanced Technologies, which included the divested business.
Electrolytes are complex formulations that ensure the transport of electric charge inside the battery. High-quality electrolytes can provide essential prerequisites for raising battery performance.
In May 2011 BASF announced the formation of a global electrolytes team to develop and sell high-quality electrolyte formulations for battery manufacturers. This team, initially formed in the Intermediates division of BASF, will be integrated into the new “Battery Materials” business unit within BASF’s Catalysts division in the course of 2012.
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Dave Flanagan: You have missed an important information on a similar context: BASF announced on February 13, 2012 in a press release that it has acquired Ovonic Battery Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER). Based in Rochester Hills, Mich., Ovonic Battery Comp. [OBC] is the global leader in Nickel-Metalhydride (NiMH) battery technology, including the production of cathode active materials (CAMs) for this battery type. The company also has a battery materials research facility in Troy, Mich.
OBC is the inventor of the NiMH technology as it is used today, and has a patent portfolio of 97 U.S. and international patents and patent applications in this field. All major producers of NiMH batteries are currently working under license from OBC.
As part of BASF, OBC will be managed under BASF’s new global business unit “Battery Materials,” which was launched on Jan. 1, 2012, to integrate the company’s current and future battery materials-related activities within a single operating unit managed by its Catalysts division, based in Iselin, N.J.
“Our acquisition of Ovonic provides BASF with an immediate leadership position in NiMH battery technology, as well as long-established commercial relationships with the world’s major battery manufacturers,” said Ralf Meixner, Senior Vice President of BASF’s Battery Materials business. “In addition, Ovonic’s proven research expertise provides a strong complement to the broad range of battery materials development activities we currently have underway within BASF.”
The pioneer invention of metal hydride energy storage technology originated in 1968 at the Battelle-Geneva R&D Center and was developed over 20 years for Daimler-Benz and Volkswagen AG. NiMH batteries are presently used under Ovonic license in over 3 million hybrid electric vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, BMW, VW, Porsche etc. – due to their proven safety and significantly lower cost than Li-ion. In the 2nd generation NiMH batteries have reached comparable energy & power densites like LiFePO4. In a 3rd generation development the MH-Air/O2 system has the potential for up to 300 Wh/kg.
Thanks for the additional info, kdb_hyb. It looks like BASF is really making a push in battery materials.
Rumour has it that BASF are buying up electrolytes wherever they can, to make up for selling up their European GM business. I would look out for more news like this in future.