Schroders signs deal with leading Chinese battery maker
Leading asset management firm Schroders has signed a deal with a Chinese battery making giant, amid chief executive Richard Oldfield’s trip to China, led by prime minister Keir Starmer.
The group’s Schroders Greencoat business, which invests in renewable energy infrastructure, signed the deal with Contemporary Amperex Techology (CATL) and Hong Kong based private equity firm Lochpine Capital on Friday.
The deal, which was witnessed by Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, seeks to use both companies’ knowledge of green infrastructure and technology, to support the development of renewable energy storage capabilities in Europe.
Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will collaborate to develop an investment platform in European battery energy storage systems, with CATL being the supplier of batteries.
Greencoat, which Schroders acquired a majority stake in during 2022 for roughly £358m, will also support CATL’s international expansion following its public listing to the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2025.
The group listed for HK$35.7bn (£3.3bn), with its share price up 60.3 per cent since listing, trading at HK$491.
Schroders share price inched up 0.22 per cent on Friday to 449.2 pence, and is up 9.9 per cent this year to date.
UK-China trip
The deal comes as Oldfield accompanied Starmer on his trip to China as part of the British business delegation, “in a bid to forge closer business, trade and investment links”.
Oldfield said it was “an honour” to accompany the government, hailing China as having been “great strategic importance” for the group for over three decades.
Richard Nourse, Chair of Infrastructure at Schroders Capital, said: “Accelerating Europe’s energy transition requires the deployment of significant amounts of capital.
“We look forward to working with Lochpine to provide investors with innovative ways to broaden access and investment into battery energy storage and other energy transition related infrastructure.”
James Wang, chief investment officer at CATL, also noted the deal also strengthened “cooperation between China and Europe“.
The deal comes after FTSE 100 giant Astrazeneca entered an agreement with a leading Chinese drug maker, worth up to $4.7bn.
The FTSE 100 company said it would make an upfront payment of $1.2 billion and pay as much as $3.5 billion more to access experimental drugs for obesity and weight-related conditions from CSPC Pharmaceutical Group.
The UK drug maker’s share price rose 0.76 per cent to 13,562 pence following the news.