June 7, 2018: Automotive and energy storage components supplier Metair confirmed to BESB on June 6 it had made an €300 million ($354 million) offer to buy the Slovenian battery maker Tovarna Akumulatorskih Baterij.

If successful, the transaction will complete in the last quarter of 2018, the South African headquartered company said, and help Metair’s target of producing 15 million automotive batteries and two million industrial cells a year.

The company’s objectives, stated in the cautionary statement, include developing new technologies such as lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles; balancing its automotive and industrial segments; and expanding its brand across the world using TAB’s locations.

TAB has facilities in Slovenia and Macedonia, with an after-market automotive battery distribution network throughout Europe and a global industrial battery and energy storage business.

In 2017, Metair bought for almost $8.5 million a 25.1% stake in Akkumulatorenfabrik Moll, the German battery maker and supplier, which through its shareholding in the Chinese battery company Chaowei Holdings gives the company a foothold in Asia, the firm said.

It is in the process of setting up a new R&D centre in Germany in partnership with Moll and Chaowei, to accelerate its production of lithium batteries for the European market.

Founded in 1945, Moll supplies European car manufacturers, including Audi, Daimler, Porsche, Skoda, Lamborghini and Volkswagen. The company has a distribution network across Europe and Asia.