Dow Sells Stake in Battery JV to Townsend

Dow Chemical has sold its stake in the lithium-ion battery joint venture Dow Kokam to its partner, MBP Investors for an undisclosed sum.

The deal makes MBP, an affiliate of U.S.-based Townsend Ventures, majority owner of the jv was established in 2009 in part with a €119 million grant from the US Department of Energy and tax credits from the US state of Michigan.

Dow Kokam's Midland Battery Park facility in Michigan houses what Dow said is one of the world's highest capacity large format lithium-ion battery manufacturing plants. The company, which also operates a plant at Lee's Summit, Missouri, designs and manufactures large-format nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion cells and systems claimed to deliver advanced battery solutions with energy, power, lifetime, safety and cost advantages.

The divestment is "another example of our strategic actions to narrow our market participation," said CEO Andrew Liveris, adding that it aligns with the chemical giant's drive to improve return on capital and total shareholder return.

Explaining that Dow's focus is on the materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, Liveris said his group remains "committed" to the value chain, "where margin growth opportunities are clear." The market has been suffering from weak global demand, and Dow took an impairment charge on the business in 2012.

The acquisition of the Dow stake will allow Townsend Ventures to "bring our market expertise and resources to this business in a way we couldn't do before," said CEO Dennis Townsend.  He called the business a "strategic fit" with the company's other battery investments, he said.

The remaining interests in Dow Kokam are held by Townsend affiliate TK Advanced Battery, along with KA Founders and Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault.