Rita Liao@ritacyliao / 10:03 AM MDT•October 2, 2021
Image Credits: CATL
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world.
China’s anti-competition tech crackdown continues to redefine the dynamics among the country’s internet giants, leading to collaboration between Alibaba and Tencent in the payments race. In the meantime, China’s tech giants are expanding fearlessly around the world. TikTok became the first internet firm from China to have topped 1 billion overseas users, and Tesla’s battery supplier CATL is on course to buy a Canadian lithium company to lock up critical battery components.
Lithium race
China’s battery-making giant Contemporary Amperex Technology, known as CATL, has made some big moves to shore up its lithium supply that is critical for electric car production. The firm has agreed to acquire Vancouver, Canada-based Millennial Lithium in an all-stock cash deal valued at CAD$377 million, or $297 million, according to an announcement made by Millennial Lithium on Wednesday.
The deal is set to secure the critical metal lithium for CATL, one of the world’s largest automotive battery makers. Millennial Lithium’s main exploration activity takes place in Argentina, which, along with Chile and Bolivia, forms the “lithium triangle” that holds most of the world’s lithium resources.
CATL has been riding the EV boom in recent years, with its revenues spiking from 5.7 billion yuan ($880 million) in 2015 to over 50 billion yuan in 2020. It struck a major partnership with Tesla earlier this year to supply lithium-ion batteries to the American EV maker from 2022 to 2025, which will no doubt further boost its revenues.
The Millennial investment is just one piece of CATL’s gigantic investment empire. A few weeks ago, news came that it had bought 8.5% in Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals. It also holds an 8% stake in another Canadian lithium firm, Neo Lithium.
No comments:
Post a Comment