Hübner Schlösser & Cie advised in the sale of the Battery Products Business of H.C. Stark to Toda Kogyo

Effective as of August 1, 2007, Toda Kogyo, Japan, has acquired the Battery Products Busi-ness of H.C. Starck, including its main production facilities located in Sarnia, Canada. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. With this acquisition Toda not only avails itself of the only industrial scale production facility for spherical Nickelhydroxide (SNH) in the western world but also secures its ability to supply next generation Li-Ion battery chemicals from one source. Hübner Schlösser & Cie (www.hscie.com), one of the leading German corporate finance advisory firms for medium-sized transactions, advised the vendors in the entire sales process: i.e. Hübner Schlösser & Cie structured the transaction and the transaction object (Asset Deal), managed the entire communication process including due diligence examinations and Q&A sessions and conducted the negotiations with the buyer.

H.C. Starck GmbH is the world’s leading producer of specialty metals, advanced ceramics and electronic chemicals for a wide range of applications in high-growth markets such as electronics, chemicals, aerospace & defence, automotive, energy and medical equipment. The Company’s specialty metals portfolio comprises molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, nio-bium and rhenium, which it offers along the value chain from chemicals/powders to sophisti-cated fabricated products. H.C. Starck is known as one of the technology and innovation lead-ers in its industry. In 2006, the Group reported sales of €985 m and employed approxi-mately 3,400 employees at 15 production sites across Europe, North America and Asia.

Toda Kogyo was founded in 1823, and is the world’s leading manufacturer of iron oxide par-ticles which are essential raw materials, or integral components of industrial and consumer products. The Company’s design concept optimally harnesses the chemical and physical properties of iron oxide particles for various applications and the experience gained from the manifold combinations of Toda Kogyo’s particle design elements is not only applied to iron oxides, but also to oxide materials for rechargeable batteries and numerous application ar-eas of nanotechnology. Focusing on the battery materials on lithium nickel oxides, their re-search and development were started in 1992 and they have been marketed since 1999 as applying for hi-energy and hi-power Li-ion batteries. Toda Kogyo is continuing to focus its efforts on solutions that reduce the burden on the environment, enhance energy efficiency, and support a richer, more convenient and fulfilling life.

The business relationship between Toda Kogyo and H.C. Starck goes back to 2003 when both companies started a joint development of a new type of battery cathode materials. Since then, H.C. Starck has supplied Toda Kogyo with precursor materials from its Sarnia plant in Canada, which Toda Kogyo uses in the production of cathode material for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. Based on strong R&D capabilities and material science know-how, the Battery Products division has developed a leading technology position in bat-tery production. The production site in Sarnia is the only industrial scale production facility for spherical Nickelhydroxide (SNH) in the western world.

Hübner Schlösser & Cie
Alice Steinhausen
Luise Ullrich Straße 8
82031 Grünwald
Germany

Phone: Tel. +49 (89) 998997-0
Fax. +49 (89) 998997-33
e-mail: asteinhausen@hscie.com
www.hscie.com

Hübner Schlösser & Cie (www.hscie.com), located in Grünwald near Munich, is an independent corporate finance advisory firm, specialised in acquisitions and divestitures of medium-sized and large companies worldwide. In the last years the firm advised in more than 100 transactions with a total transaction value in excess of EUR 17 bn. Hübner Schlösser & Cie is one of the leading advisory firms for medium-sized transactions in Germany.

This release was published on openPR.