Ajay Kochhar, co-founder and chief executive of Mississauga-based Li-Cycle Corp. sometimes refers to his company as akin to an urban miner — a subtle hint at how excitement around the electric vehicle industry is reshaping global industry.
His business involves shredding lithium-ion batteries, and separating out the metals inside — mainly lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese — so they can be recycled for use in future electric vehicle or smartphone batteries.
On Tuesday, Li-Cycle announced a deal to combine with Peridot Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, which raised US$300 million in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September.
Although subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, if approved, the deal would allow Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. to takeover the NYSE listing, and bring its total recent fundraising to US$615 million.
It arrives as analysts predict that electric vehicle sales will take off in 2021, driven by technological improvements and also government incentives in Europe and other markets that are geared toward reducing carbon emissions.
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