Glencore to invest in Norwegian battery startup Freyr

Glencore PLC agreed to acquire a stake in Freyr AS and provide ethically sourced cobalt to support the Norwegian startup's goal of producing batteries with the world's lowest carbon content and help achieve Glencore's target to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Freyr on Jan. 29 said that it entered into a definitive agreement to merge with NYSE-listed Alussa Energy Acquisition Corp. in a deal that values the combined company at $1.4 billion. The merged entity will be listed on NYSE under the FREY ticker. Closing is expected in the second quarter.

Under the terms, Freyr will receive $850 million in proceeds, including a $600 million fully committed private investment in public equity priced at $10.00 per share and backed by Glencore and other investors.

Freyr plans to use the proceeds to develop up to 43 GWh of clean battery cell production capacity at the Mo i Rana industrial complex in Norway by 2025.

The investment came after Glencore signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2020 to supply Freyr with ethically sourced and traceable raw materials for lithium-ion batteries.

As part of its strengthened partnership with Freyr, Glencore said Feb. 1 that its subsidiary Glencore International AG signed a letter of intent to supply Freyr with up to 3,700 tonnes of high purity cobalt metal cut cathodes from the Nikkelverk operation in Norway.

Glencore said the cobalt will be a key material in Freyr's lithium-ion battery cells to be produced at its planned facilities.

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