Ecobat completes sale of UK operations

Battery recycler Ecobat has completed the sale of its battery recycling and specialty lead operations in the United Kingdom to funds advised by Splitstone Capital LLP. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The transaction encompasses Ecobat's facilities in Matlock and Welwyn Garden City. Rothschild & Co. is acting as financial advisor and White & Case as legal advisor to Ecobat on the transaction.

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“With this closing, we’ve executed on our strategic plan to reposition the business,” says Tom Slabe, president and CEO of Dallas-based Ecobat. “Our exit from the U.K., together with previously announced divestitures in France, Italy, Germany and Austria, allow Ecobat to sharpen its focus on North America and our lithium-ion battery recycling operations. Ecobat will continue to pursue additional opportunities to maximize value for shareholders beyond these transactions.”

The transaction was the fourth for Ecobat since May, when it sold its battery recycling and specialty lead manufacturing operations in Estrée-Saint-Denis, Bazoches and Pont-Sainte-Maxence, France, to Belgium-based Campine NV.

In July, the company completed the sale of its battery and polypropylene plastic recycling business in Italy to Haiki + S.p.A. of Milan, Italy. The transaction included three facilities in Marcianise, Paderno Dugnano and Bologna, Italy. In August, Ecobat agreed to sell its battery recycling and specialty lead operations in Freiberg and Braubach, Germany, as well as its Arnoldstein operation in Austria to Wisconsin-based battery manufacturer Clarios.

As Ecobat has divested from some of its U.K. and European assets, it also has expanded its lithium-ion battery recycling capacity both in the United States and abroad.

Between late 2023 and November 2024, the company opened three battery recycling facilities in Hettstedt, Germany; Casa Grande, Arizona; and Darlaston, England. Combined, the company says the facilities are capable of processing up to 10,000 tons of lithium-ion batteries per year, with plans to scale capacity to 25,000 tons.