Ara Partners to invest in Blue Whale Materials

Ara Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm that specializes in industrial decarbonization investments, has made an $80 million equity commitment to support the buildout of lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling facilities in the U.S and Europe with Blue Whale Materials LLC (BWM), Washington.

BWM and Ara will build five lithium-ion recycling plants in the U.S. and Europe in the next two to four years, a spokesman for BWM says, and plans to have its first U.S. plant operational in 2023. He adds that locations in the U.S. and Europe are being finalized and that BWM will announce those locations soon.

As electric vehicles, smart devices and electric storage technologies continue to be adopted, manufacturers will require a growing supply of materials such as cobalt, nickel and lithium to make the batteries for these devices. BWM’s proprietary technology, which the company says it has validated at a commercial scale plant in Asia, recycles spent lithium-ion batteries and produces recycled product used in manufacturing new battery components.

According to the spokesperson, the company’s technology produces a “blacksand material” that contains cobalt, nickel and lithium at high concentrations. “The process is designed to remove impurities to optimize the product for hydrometallurgical refining and separation of the metals into sulfate form for precursor manufacturing.”

He adds that BWM's product is dry and lighter in weight than products produced using a wet process. “BWM is also end-refinery agnostic and can direct material to any upstream provider's refinery of choice to promote true closed loop recycling.”  

“There is an urgent need for an ethical, circular solution to the growing demand for critical battery materials and the mounting supply of hazardous LIBs,” says Robert Kang, BWM CEO. “We are proud to partner with Ara, which shares our passion and has the experience in scaling manufacturing operations and building sustainable businesses.”

“The BWM team has the operational experience, strategic relationships and motivation to build a leading LIB recycling platform domestically,” says Tuan Tran, a partner at Ara Partners. “The market opportunity is tremendous, and we are thrilled to partner with the BWM team.”