Two Chinese shareholders have put a total of 30% of shares in Samsung SDI’s joint venture battery company on the market, according to China’s Tianjin Property Rights Exchange (TPRE).
Samsung SDI (Tianjin) Battery Co., Ltd. (SDITB), set up in China in 2015 October, is a manufacturer of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
SDITB is 50% owned by the South Korea tech giant Samsung SDI, with the Tianjin Zhonghuan electronic information group (Zhonghuan) holding a 30% stake and the remaining 20% owned by the Tianjin economic-technological development area state-owned assets management company (TETDA).
However, according to documents published by TPRE, Zhonghuan is selling 10% of its shareholding while another Chinese company is unloading all of its shares in SDITB.
The Chinese shareholders did not give reasons for the share sales, but documents published by TPRE show SDITB reported a loss of CNY9,000 ($1,360) in 2016 and had debts of almost CNY100,000.
In February 2017, SDITB reported a fire at its battery manufacturing plant although the company said production was unaffected.
BBB reported in June that the Chinese government had effectively blocked the use of South Korean batteries in electric vehicles by cancelling certifications.