Altech Batteries receives first payment for sale of German subsidiary company
A second payment totalling $2.5 million for the sale of Altech Industries Germany is due in December.
Altech Batteries (ASX: ATC) has received the first two instalments of deferred consideration from Altech Advanced Materials AG (AAM) in relation to the sale of 25% of German subsidiary company Altech Industries Germany GmbH (AIG).
The first payment totalled $5.12 million and a second payment of $2.5 million is due in December.
In December 2020, Altech sold 25% of AIG to AAM for $8 million.
Under the terms of the sale, an initial cash consideration of $400,000 was received on the signing of a purchase agreement, with a deferred consideration of $7.6 million payable in three equal instalments of $2.5 million.
AAM is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Progress payment
Altech managing director Iggy Tan welcomed the progress payment from AAM.
“The objective of establishing AAM on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the first place was to attract investment from the European market and establish some local German ownership and presence in our projects,” he said.
“AAM has completed a very successful fundraising program which will support its 25% share of our silumina anode and Cerenergy battery projects.”
Game-changing technology
The Cerenergy project revolves around sodium alumina solid state batteries which Altech believes will be a “game-changing grid storage alternative” to lithium-ion batteries.
They are fire and explosion-proof, have a life span of more than 15 years and can operate in extreme climates.
The technology uses table salt and is free of lithium, cobalt, graphite and copper, eliminating exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns.
Silumina anodes pilot plant
Altech says its silumina anodes pilot plant in Germany is “well underway” and progressing to the expected timeframe.
The plant will be housed in an existing building at the Schwarze Pumpe Industrial Park in Saxony, adjacent to the site of a proposed full-scale 10,000 tonnes-per-annum silicon graphite alumina coating plant designed to produce high-capacity silicon graphite battery materials (or silumina anodes) for supply into Europe’s electric vehicle market.
It will produce 120 kilograms per day of the silumina anodes, which will be provided to potential end-users for product testing.
Name change
Last month, Altech shareholders voted in favour of changing the company’s name to Altech Batteries.
The new name reflects Altech’s vision to meet a battery storage future as the world transitions to the electrification of energy solutions.
It is consistent with the business and market segments of all three of Altech’s projects, being the Cerenergy and silumina anodes projects and the high purity alumina project for lithium-ion and solid-state batteries.
Mr Tan said the name change will allow for marketing of the company’s future products in a “more beneficial manner”.