Slovak battery technology company has announced a definitive business combination agreement (BCA) with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Cartesian Growth Corporation II (Cartesian II) aiming at US Nasdaq listing.

The BCA values InoBat at $1.265bn (€1.1bn) on a pre-money, pre-merger basis, while SPAC represents an alternative way to trading on the stock market than an IPO.

“This agreement is a defining moment for InoBat,” Marian Boček, co-founder and CEO of InoBat said in a company press statement.

“Demand for electricity is rising as data centre and AI infrastructure expands, and the operators building that infrastructure need reliable, large-scale energy storage. AI runs on computing; computing runs on power,” he also said.

Boček highlighted that InoBat “has built a cash-generative BESS business serving industrial customers today, and that “we are now scaling that platform to further reinforce our position in advanced energy infrastructure for AI”.

He concluded that “a successful Nasdaq listing would provide us with access to the world’s deepest capital markets, which we believe would give us the resources and transatlantic reach to further accelerate our growth,” adding that listing would help InoBat “expand manufacturing capacity, strengthen and advance our programmes, including our next-generation sodium-ion energy storage technology, and reinforce our position as a leading advanced energy storage company”.

Peter Yu, chairman and CEO of Cartesian II said that “InoBat is almost uniquely well-situated to address growing demand for battery storage in a world of heightened attention to supply chain security.”

“With industrial partners such as Clarios and Altris, and strategic investors including Gotion, Rio Tinto, and Amara Raja, we believe InoBat will play a critical role in the battery ecosystem,” he added.  

In Slovakia InoBat is behind the 20 GWh battery plant project in Šurany set up by Gotion InoBat Batteries (GIB), a joint venture between Chinese-owned Gotion High-Tech and InoBat.

Construction works on the battery plant began last year and earlier this month the government approved another €145mn injection for the project, which it declared a strategic investment.

Prime Minister Robert Fico and Minister of Economy Denisa Saková signed a memorandum with GIB on developing the €1.2bn battery plant in November 2023.

In August 2023, Gotion bought a 25% stake in InoBat following one-year talks between the two companies.

The plant is supposed to secure 1,300 new jobs, and first production was supposed to commence in September 2026 with output of 20 gigawatthours (GWh). Its output could later reach 40 GWh, and full production is expected in the course of 2027, Slovak press agency TASR reported last year, referring to president of Gotion EMEA, Steven Cai. With increased capacities, the site could employ up to 3,500 employees, TASR also noted.