Ann: US$5M Strategic Investment by ATL, page-292

Reposted with references included below; apparently someone didn’t like it without links.
Very strange.

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Here are some key points afaik, that provide some insight into how ATL and CATL fit together.
(Quoted and paraphrased from several sources)


- In 1999, Zeng Yuqun founded a company called ATL, which acquired technology licenses from US companies to make batteries for laptops and MP3 players

- ATL managed to produce batteries at half the costcompared to its Korean competitors. Their lithium polymer battery was also thinner than other models and could be shaped according to the device.

- Within two years, it had produced batteries for 1 million devices and made its name as a reliable company.

- On the back off that success, in 2005, it was acquired by TDK, the Japanese firm.

- Zeng and his second-in-command Huang decided to stay. TDK added Japanese discipline to ATL’s manufacturing process and expanded its lithium-ion battery market to the newest cash cow: smartphones.

- ATL would go on to supply batteries to both Samsung and Apple. In the meantime, starting in 2006, Huang began fielding queries about batteries for electric cars.

- Huang and Zeng created a research department within ATL to develop a solution, and began acquiring technology licenses from the US they believed would help them come up with a battery to power electric cars.

- By 2008, ATL had something to show for its effort. That year, the Chinese government rolled out a demo fleet of electric buses at the Beijing Olympics—some of which were powered by the company’s batteries.

- In 2009, the Chinese government launched the “Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles” program, with the goal of deploying 1,000 electric vehicles in 10 of its largest cities.

- Huang and Zeng sensed an opportunity. In 2011, they spun out ATL’s electric-car battery business into CATL.

- Around 2010, BMW and its joint-venture partner Brilliance, a Chinese automaker, began to look for a domestic battery supplier. BMW chose to work with CATL.

- CATL listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2018

- In 2011, some 1,000 electric cars were sold in China. In 2018, Chinese customers bought 1 million electric cars—more than the rest of the world combined that year. The same year Zeng and Huang became billionaires on the back off CATL’s public listing.

- 2019: CATL would break ground on Germany’s first automotive-battery factory, beating the revered German auto industry to the punch.

- DYOR on CATL’s growth and successes since then!
[By 2022, CATL was supplying almost every electric carmaker in the world, and Zeng was worth $34.3 billion !!]

- ATL continued its growth trajectory and, in the first quarter of 2020, it held the largest revenue share (36.5%) in the smartphone battery market.

- Later in 2020, ATL expanded its operations to India, aiming to supply batteries to the country's smartphone and EV industries.

- In 2021, Ampace was founded as a joint venture between ATL and CATL. While ATL has generally specialized in small batteries such as those used in smartphones and laptops, and CATL has specialized in large batteries used in EVs, Ampace has focused on medium sized batteries such as those used in electric scooters, UAVs, and power tools.


- In fiscal year 2021, ATL realized revenue of 740 billion yen ($6.4 billion). Hong Kong-based ATL formed a joint venture with Ningde Times to develop medium-sized battery packs for electric scooters, industrial and residential applications.
"We are going to be a challenger to the medium-sized battery market, and I believe we can quickly become a major player in this area….over the next five to six years, these new areas will generate as much revenue as we currently get from small devices."

- In April 2022, ATL and CATL partnered to establish a joint venture called the "Xiamen Ampcore Technology Limited" (battery cells) to further expand into the electric vehicles business; with ATL having a 30% stake and CATL having a 70% stake. The same year, ATL and CATL also established a battery pack joint venture called "Xiamen Ampack Technology Limited" (battery packs); with ATL holding 70% and CATL holding 30%.

- The objective of the ATL-CATL alliance is to fuse the technology and know-how nurtured by the two companies in their respective fields and to display the results in the medium capacity rechargeable battery market.

- TDK (ATL): “as the second chapter of our battery business we have decided to enter the market for medium capacity batteries for electric motorcycles and residential energy storage systems.”
“The medium capacity battery market is four times as large as the market for small capacity batteries. After looking over the business as a whole — including the balance between the investment required to take the top position in the market and the potential earnings, as well as our ability to procure raw materials - and after a series of internal discussions, we came to the conclusion that it would be best for us to partner with CATL rather than go it alone.






- “we will be able to pursue the advantages of scale through the integration of the medium capacity battery businesses of the two companies and enhance cost competitiveness by manufacturing that capitalizes on the production technology capabilities of the two companies. Furthermore, in terms of technology, our aim is to supply even more competitive products by collaborating in the securing of human resources to lead business in the future and mutually complementing each other in the area of intellectual property.


- In 2023, ATL formed strategic partnerships with Group14 Technologies and AM Batteries aimed at integrating advanced silicon battery technology and developing solvent-free electrode manufacturing technology.


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….That’ll do for now.
Hope that helps a little..?

ATL seem to be at the top of their game, and are aggressively expanding into a new segment, in partnership with CATL. Fantastic.



Oh, and don’t forget this comment from the recent AGY announcement:

“The Companies have also discussed future strategic cooperation opportunities and synergies, including access to ATL networks for potential Rincon Lithium Project development, given ATL's planned growth and future lithium requirement strategy.”

“ATL networks” …?? I like the sound of that.
Time will tell how/if it all comes together.

H2 shaping up to be good imo!

DYOR

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https://www.tdk.com/system/files/integrated_report_pdf_2022_all_en.pdf

https://www.tdk.com/system/files/integrated_report_pdf_2023_all_en.pdf

https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/20210428_01.html

https://www.catl.com/en/about/profile/

https://www.atlbattery.com/en/about.html

https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/20221101_01.html

https://time.com/6217992/china-electric-vehicle-catl/

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/How-China-EV-battery-king-CATL-is-defending-its-throne

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...k-looks-beyond-phones-to-double-battery-sales

https://news.metal.com/newscontent/...-lithium-battery-income-doubles-in-five-years

https://qz.com/1585662/how-catl-became-the-worlds-biggest-electric-car-battery-company

https://www.ecolithiumbattery.com/top-10-chinese-lithium-battery-manufacturers-in-2022/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/catl-powering-future-electric-mobility-deep-dive-rise-soeren

https://www.aceongroup.com/news/the-history-of-catl-an-asian-giant/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...amperex-technology-limited-atl-301757185.html