Overview
- Samsung SDI disclosed in a regulatory filing that it will acquire General Motors’ 49.99% stake in the SynergyCells joint venture, a transaction first reported on Tuesday, August 11.
- The purchase will convert the New Carlisle, Indiana site into Samsung SDI’s first wholly owned North American battery plant, and construction work on the site remains under way.
- Samsung SDI plans to initially prioritize production of batteries for energy storage systems and said the facility could later make EV prismatic cells if demand recovers.
- The two companies signed a joint development agreement to co-develop next-generation prismatic EV batteries, and GM will keep a development and likely supply relationship despite selling its equity stake.
- Company statements link the change to weaker-than-expected US EV demand after the federal tax credit ended, leaving job counts, production timing and the purchase price unspecified and creating short-term flexibility for suppliers and automakers.