Key points
- The Novonix share price is down 5.95%%
- The lithium-ion battery materials developer plans to acquire 5% of US-based Kore Power
- The agreement is subject to board approval
The Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX) share price is sliding today amid the company releasing plans to acquire 5% of US battery cell developer Kore Power.
The battery materials company's shares are currently trading at $7.75 apiece, a fall of 5.95%. The company's share price has been on the slide since market open. For perspective, the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1.58% at the time of writing.
Let's take a look at what the company announced today.
New agreement
Novonix informed investors it intends to acquire a 5% stake in Kore Power Inc. Kore Power is a battery cell developer for the clean energy industry based in the US state of Idaho. The agreement will depend on board approval from both companies.
Novonix is a developer of materials for the global lithium-ion battery industry. The company said it has executed a letter of intent on the proposed investment to strengthen its North American battery supply chain.
Under the agreement, Novonix would become the exclusive supplier of graphite anode materials to Kore's battery cell manufacturing facility in the US.
Commenting on the agreement, Novonix co-founder and CEO Dr Chris Burns said:
Novonix and Kore Power have been actively working together to improve battery technology utilising Novonix's proprietary cell testing technologies, and these agreements deepen our longstanding collaboration.
We are reducing the reliance on foreign materials and furthering the United States' position as a global energy storage leader by providing high capacity long-life synthetic graphite anode material to a leading domestic developer.
If the proposal goes ahead, Novonix would purchase 3,333,333 Kore Power shares at $7.50 per share.
Novonix revealed in January it has commenced the process for a secondary listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company has also filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company's share price had a boost in December on news the company had been added to the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
Share price recap
The Novonix share price has skyrocketed 124% in the past year. However, it's dropped around 6% in the past month and is down 16% in the past week alone.
In contrast, the broader ASX 200 Index has returned nearly 3% in the past 52 weeks.
Novonix has a market capitalisation of $3.9 billion based on its current share price.
