Privately held zinc battery developer Eos Energy Storage signed a letter of intent (LOI) on 24 June with the goal of opening a $225 million finance opportunity by becoming a publicly listed company.
The proposed transaction would provide Eos with $225 million of additional new equity financing, including $50 million of proceeds from a fully backstopped PIPE by B. Riley Financial, assuming no public shareholders of BRPM exercise their redemption rights at closing.
Special purpose acquisition company B. Riley Principal Merger Corp. II (BRPM)— an affiliate of B. Riley Financial— signed the LOI with Eos for a business combination transaction, which contemplates a pre-money valuation for Eos of around $290 million.
Founded in 2008, Eos’ Aurora® system is designed for grid-scale applications.
The proposed transaction would allow Eos to fund its corporate strategy, which includes expanding its manufacturing capacity, investing in research and development, and commercialisation.
Russ Stidolph, chairman of the Eos board of directors, said: “The current market is primarily served by lithium-ion batteries manufactured in China and South Korea— our zinc-based system offers a safer, greener, and less expensive solution.”
The proposed transaction is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, subject to, among other things, a definitive agreement and approval by BRPM’s shareholders,
On 22 June, Eos announced plans to deploy an energy storage system in partnership with the California Energy Commission to evaluate the technology’s performance across multiple utility energy storage use cases.
The system will be manufactured in Pittsburgh, US, by Hi Power— the joint venture established last year between Eos and Holtec International.
The system will feature Eos’ proprietary Znyth™ technology, which employs a unique zinc-halide redox cycle packaged in a modular, sealed, static-cell, flooded, bipolar battery.
