ENVX - Enovix to Acquire Routejade | Benzinga
- Buying existing coating supplier speeds product development, manufacturing efficiency, access to leading battery materials, path to strong margins, and supports manufacturing scale-up by reducing future capital expenditure need by approximately $35 million for coating capacity.
- Establishes presence in Korea, strategically near key customers, equipment suppliers, and raw materials suppliers.
- Adds immediately accretive battery business focused on Military and IoT end markets with growth potential and opportunity to cross-sell Enovix silicon cells.
FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enovix Corporation ("Enovix") (NASDAQ:ENVX), an advanced silicon battery company, today announced the acquisition of privately-held Routejade, an established Korean battery manufacturer for a total consideration of approximately 6.2 million shares of Enovix common stock and $16.5 million in cash assuming purchase of 100% of Routejade. The acquisition provides Enovix with vertical integration of electrode coating and battery pack manufacturing while adding an established lithium-ion battery business with factories in Korea, along with complementary products, customers, and suppliers. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023 and be immediately accretive.
Routejade has been qualified as a supplier of coated rolls of electrodes for Enovix batteries with capacity to support the Fab2 scale-up that begins in 2024. By bringing coating capability in-house, Enovix intends to realize significant cost savings while speeding up battery development cycles as modern materials are quickly incorporated to improve energy density. Securing the coating supply chain is also intended to ensure the quality of incoming battery materials which can positively impact manufacturing yield and throughput.
Routejade brings over 20 years of experience as a manufacturer and supplier of lithium-ion batteries, targeting end markets such as wearables, hearables, medical, industrial, and the South Korean military. Routejade's patented encapsulation technology allows for circular and asymmetric battery form factors, complementing the ability of Enovix to support multiple customer requirements.
"This is a compelling acquisition with a strong ROI profile for Enovix given the obvious financial benefits of vertically integrating coating while providing our R&D team quicker access to new materials to enhance our product roadmap and benefit customers," said Dr. Raj Talluri, President and CEO of Enovix. "My vision is for Enovix to grow our battery performance metrics at a significantly faster rate than the industry ...