Sumitomo Chemical is ramping up production capacity for its Pervio lithium-ion secondary battery separators. Production at the company’s Ohe Works in Niihama, Japan will be raised to approximately 1.3 times the current capacity by next spring. The company also plans to build a new plant for Pervio at its subsidiary in South Korea, to start… Read more »
Polypore, the maker of battery separators and microporous membranes, is to be split in two and sold. The company announced that 3M will acquire the assets of Polypore’s Separations Media segment for about $1 billion, and Asahi Kasei will purchase the rest of the company for $60.50 per share. This represents an enterprise value for… Read more »
Celgard, a subsidiary of Polypore International (NYSE: PPO) and Panasonic have agreed to work together to develop coated and uncoated Celgard brand separators for Panasonic’s next-generation cylindrical battery cells. Upon completion of the development effort, the two firms expect to form a long term supply agreement. A battery separator provides a barrier between the anode… Read more »
Polypore International (NYSE:PPO) has announced that its Celgard subsidiary has entered into a five-year supply agreement with Panasonic under which the Japanese battery behemoth will purchase Celgard brand separators to be used in its large-format lithium-ion batteries. Separators are critical components of a Li-ion battery, providing a barrier between the anode and the cathode while… Read more »
Polypore International and Sumitomo Chemical have entered into a Settlement and License Agreement which ends outstanding litigation between the two companies. Last February, Charlotte-based Polypore’s Celgard unit filed a patent-infringement suit against Sumitomo over Celgard’s lithium-ion battery separators, which are designed to prevent short circuits and limit safety problems from overheating. Under the new License… Read more »