Battery materials firm Cabot Corporation entered into an agreement to buy carbon nanotube (CNT) producer Shenzhen Sanshun Nano New Materials (SUSN) on 6 January.
The Massachusetts, US, firm aims to buy SUSN through its wholly owned subsidiary Cabot China for around $115 million in enterprise value, which includes liabilities and contingent payments.
If the deal goes through during in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 the company will be managed as part of Cabot’s global energy materials business within the Performance Chemicals segment.
Cabot hopes the deal will strengthen its market position and formulation capabilities in the high-growth batteries market, particularly in China.
China’s SUSN is the second largest producer of CNTs globally, and has the capability to manufacture both dry powder CNTs and dispersions for the lithium-ion battery market.
The addition of CNTs enhances Cabot’s suite of conductive carbon product offerings, which includes: carbon blacks and additives for advanced lead-acid batteries, conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries, and carbon nanostructures.
Jeff Zhu, senior vice president and president, Performance Additives business, said: “Combining their leading CNT and dispersion capabilities with our carbon additive technology and battery expertise will create new opportunities to grow our position in the fast-growing energy storage market.”
SUSN’s trailing twelve-month revenue was $28 million and the combination of Cabot’s energy materials portfolio and SUSN will create a business with around $50 million in revenue.
Revenue is expected to grow at a rate of 20-25% over the next five years from continued growth in electric vehicles and lithium-ion battery storage applications.
In November 2018, SUSN commissioned a new CNT plant in China that has sufficient capacity to support the projected growth.
