You have touched on something I’ve believed for some time. A rough draft or my ongoing investigation is below;
The ownership structure of SGL is most interesting. Susanne Klatten owns 28% of SGL. BMW (which her and her mother (Herbert Quandt) own 50% of) owns a further 15.72% of SGL.
BMW have already guaranteed SGL through a joint subsidiary that states “
BMW Guarantees certain minimum purchasing volumes at contractually agreed conditions in the context of safeguarding the overall project” http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ERsgYvczYRAJ:irpages.equitystory.com/download/companies/sglcarbon/Presentations/SGL_Group_IR_Presentation_June_2012.pdf+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au Page 37 i.e. they guarantee funds behind a binding off-take.
I’m of the opinion that if the first off-take isn’t with them, then the second one will be. Their requirements are for high quality, large flake size graphite. These end users aren’t the type to be able to make-do with the plethora of graphite grades currently out there.
I’d suggest Susanne Klatten, Germany’s richest woman (
http://www.forbes.com/profile/susanne-klatten/) is the driver behind this, she has an interest in sustainable technology, including owning part of a wind-turbine company (25% of Nordex).
I also suggest her influence over BMW (with her mother) are reasons behind
http://www.sglgroup.com/cms/international/press-lounge/news/2014/05/05092014_p.html?__locale=en their push into EV’s. “
The Carbon fiber plant in Moses lake is a key element in the strategy pursed by the two companies, which anticipates the industrialized production fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) for the application in future vehicle concept”, & “has built over 5,000 BMW i3 vehicles”
I also have a host of “coincidence” material too, like;
- German listing shortly after BMW & SGL off-take agreement.
- Naturgaphit (NGS) who performed the test work on KNL’s product are ~30km from the BMW i3 EV factory in Leipzing and ~130km from the other one in Landshut.
- There’s only a handful of Graphite Traders in Europe, there’s even fewer with the clout to sign a long-term, binding off-take. SGL, backed through Susanne Klatten and her many umbrella companies are one of the few with such clout. (how else do you explain German testing & German listing)
This is purely speculation at this point, but my investigations are ongoing, so too is my KNL buying.
(20min delay)