Battery recycler Ace Green Recycling announced its take-over for an undisclosed sum by Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II, in which it gains a listing on Nasdaq in New York. Its business, valued at $250 million as part of this transaction, will form the continuing operations.
Athena is a special purpose acquisition company and describes itself as “a blank check company” whose business purpose is to effect a merger, acquisition or similar.
Ace’s CEO Nishchay Chadha said the combination with Athena will support Ace’s growth strategy, including construction of its Texas facility, further scaling of the India facility, near-term partnerships and general corporate functions.
Chadha told BEST the acquisition was driven by ambition alone, and “definitely not any distress.” He added: “We are planning a massive expansion in the US and see the opportunity to list on Nasdaq as a way to speed up this expansion. Given our differentiated tech on both lead and lithium (especially LFP) we see a clear opportunity where we can create a differentiated and profitable platform, unlike many others in this sector.”
It is generating approximately $23 million in annual revenue, it said. Its technology recovers critical battery materials from both lead and lithium-ion batteries. The processes are fully electrified, which Ace claims produces zero Scope 1 emissions, toxic water or solid waste.
This positions Ace as a provider of hydrometallurgical recycling solutions without any smelting or thermal processes for both lead and lithium batteries, it said.
The company operates and owns commercial facilities in India (lithium-ion, since 2023). It has licensed its lead recycling technology to ACME Metal in Taiwan since 2024.
It said it has advanced plans to deploy its technology by building its own plant in the US and has processed more than three million pounds of lead and lithium batteries in India and Taiwan.
It claims its LithiumFirst technology can commercially recover up to 75% of lithium with a purity exceeding 99% from LFP and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries.
It also recovers NMC salts, graphite, iron phosphate and other materials such as plastics, steel, aluminium and copper by utilising a closed-loop hydrometallurgical process and produces no liquid waste or Scope 1 carbon emissions.
Its Greenlead recovery technology is a fully electric process with no Scope 1 emissions with a claimed recovery rate of up to 99% of battery-grade lead with more than 99.98% purity.
Ace expects the combination to close in the first half of 2025, subject to customary approvals. It also expects to complete financing from existing insiders and various strategic and fundamental investors.
