Finance: Trinseo to sell interest in Americas Styrenics; Vianode awarded EUR30 mn grant to advance Europe’s battery industry

Speciality materials firm Trinseo says that it has commenced a sale process for its 50% ownership in Americas Styrenics LLC (AmSty), a joint venture with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, by 2025.

As part of its transformation strategy, the company had previously announced its intent to divest its styrenics businesses with a focus on selectively marketing individual assets or regional businesses. AmSty was established in 2008 and is part of Trinseo’s regional Styrenics Businesses operating in the Americas.

Trinseo has initiated an ownership exit provision of the AmSty joint venture agreement which includes a structured mechanism that is expected to ultimately lead to a sale of Trinseo’s ownership interest in AmSty. Any proceeds from the sale are expected to be used to pay down a portion of the recently issued US$1.077 billion of term loans maturing in 2028.

Frank Bozich, President/CEO of Trinseo, said “The sale of our ownership in AmSty is a logical step in our transformation as a specialty materials and sustainable solutions provider. By executing the contractual ownership exit provision, we have a clear pathway to divest our interest in the joint venture. We expect the exit process to lead to a definitive arrangement no later than early 2025.”

Meanwhile in other news, Vianode, an advanced battery materials company providing sustainable anode graphite solutions, has been awarded a EUR30 million grant from Innovation Norway under the IPCEI EUBatin program. The funding will support the development of the Herøya plant as part of the industrialisation of a European low-carbon battery value chain.

The grant from Innovation Norway under the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) program is designed to expedite green transition innovations to market at scale. Vianode’s customer qualification plant at Herøya, Norway, is based on Vianode’s proprietary technology that sets a new industrial standard for sustainable production of anode graphite solutions. IPCEI is a transnational program to develop European cooperation and public-private partnerships with the possibility of exempting public support regulation, administered locally by Innovation Norway.

Vianode adds it is targeting to produce high-performance anode graphite solutions for 3 million EVs/year by 2030 across Europe and North America. The company started small-scale production of synthetic anode graphite in 2021 and currently has operations at its pilot plant and technology centre in Kristiansand, Norway. The Herøya plant is on track for start-up in the second half of 2024.

Anode graphite is the largest component of a lithium-ion battery in terms of weight, up to 70 kg per battery cell, and a key element regardless of battery technology. Vianode’s solution contributes to a 90% reduction in CO2 footprint compared to conventional production, a 40% reduction in energy use and substantially reduced supplementary material consumption, local emissions, land use and water consumption.

IPCEI EUBatin is the second part of a two-stage IPCEI program seeking to drive industrialisation across the battery value chain. The battery IPCEI programs include public support of EUR6 billion which is expected to trigger around EUR14 billion in additional private investments.

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