Ashurst advises Pure Battery

Ashurst advised Pure Battery Technology Pty Ltd, Pure Battery Technology Germany AG (Pure Battery) and Königswarter & Ebell Chemische Fabrik GmbH (K&E) on a €36.7m venture debt loan granted to K&E by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan is backed by the InvestEU Green Transition programme with the Australian and German Pure Battery acting as guarantors. The funds from the EIB loan are intended for an innovative first-of-its-kind commercial demonstration plant for the manufacturing of precursor cathode active material for electric vehicle car batteries in Hagen / Germany.

K&E with headquarters in Hagen / Germany is a fully-owned German subsidiary of Australia’s Pure Battery. The Australian start-up produces the precursor for nickel-based active cathode material (CAM), which is used in lithium-ion batteries required for electric cars. The company is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, with a German subsidiary in Ettlingen. Pure Battery offers two environmentally friendly, cost-effective processes for the production of active precursor cathode material (pCAM). The processes developed together with the University of Queensland produce high-quality battery materials with a much lower environmental impact and are much more cost-effective than the processes currently in use. Together with cooperation partners, the company aims to establish a closed material cycle for cathode material in the European Union in recycling.

The Ashurst team advising on corporate law was led by counsel Volker Germann, the team advising on finance law was led by partner Anne Grewlich and counsel Judit Körmöczi.

After advising Pure Battery on the acquisition of all shares in K&E and the establishment of a joint venture with Cronimet Holding Group, this is already the third project in which Ashurst advised Pure Battery.