CATL unit to take cobalt stake

Top global battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) has agreed to take a stake in CMOC Group, a major cobalt producer, increasing vertical integration in China’s burgeoning EV supply chain, reports Bloomberg.

The miner said its second-biggest shareholder had agreed to an earlier proposal to transfer its 24.68% holding—valued at RMB 26.75 billion ($3.7 billion)—to a unit of CATL. In return, the same shareholder will take a stake in the CATL subsidiary.

The agreement was proposed at end-September, when CATL said it would “deepen industrial cooperation” between the companies. CMOC mines metals in China and Africa, including at one of the world’s biggest copper-and-cobalt mines in Democratic Republic of Congo.