Sodium-ion battery firm Faradion to be acquired by Reliance for 100 M pound

Reliance New Energy Solar, founded by Mukesh Ambani, has agreed to pay 100 million pounds for Faradion, a business that develops sodium-ion battery technology. The oil conglomerate has inked a binding deal to acquire the UK company.

Reliance New Energy will also spend 25 million pounds in expansion capital to expedite commercialization.

Faradion is one of the world’s premier battery technology businesses, with headquarters in Sheffield and Oxford, with proprietary sodium-ion battery technology.

The business also said that Faradion’s sodium-ion technology had considerable benefits over other battery technologies, particularly lithium-ion and lead-acid.

According to the proposal, Reliance would deploy Faradion’s cutting-edge technology in its projected fully integrated energy storage giga-factory in Jamnagar, Gujarat, as part of the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex project.

“It has a competitively superior, strategic, wide-reaching and extensive IP portfolio covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology,” Reliance said in a statement.

“We welcome Faradion and its experienced team to Reliance family. This will further strengthen and build upon our ambition to create one of the most advanced and integrated New Energy ecosystems and put India at the forefront of leading battery technologies,” Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

Faradion’s sodium-ion technology delivers a globally leading energy storage and battery solution that is safe, sustainable, has a high energy density and is considerably cost-competitive. Furthermore, it offers a wide range of uses, ranging from mobility to grid-scale storage and backup power, he added.

On this deal, Linklaters LLP served as Reliance’s legal counsel, and Ernst & Young served as its accounting and tax counsel.