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Amperex Technology Limited (ATL)

Amperex Technology Limited (Chinese: 新能源科技有限公司) is a lithium ion battery maker founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hong Kong.

ATL includes several wholly-owned subsidiaries, including as Ningde ATL (Chinese: 宁德新能源科技有限公司, headquartered in Ningde, Fujian Province) and Dongguan ATL(Chinese: 东莞新能源科技有限公司, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province), which both manufacture battery cells. Other subsidiaries included NVT (Chinese: 东莞新能德科技有限公司, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province) and Poweramp (Chinese: 东莞新能安科技有限公司, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong Province), which produce battery packs. ATL entered India in 2019 to establish a local production base for battery cells and packs.

ATL produces mostly pouch type batteries for use in small devices like smartphones, notebook PCs and drone. It is a supplier for major smartphone makers in the US, Korea and China.

Company History

With a paid in capital of $2.5 million, ATL2 was founded in Hong Kong in 1999 by Liang Shaokang (梁少康), CEO of SAE Magnetics (HK) Limited, a TDK subsidiary based in Hong Kong that supplies hard disc magnetic heads. The company was co-founded by SAE technology director Robin Zeng (曾毓群), and SAE senior executive Chen Tang-Hua (陈棠华). ATL began mass-producing pouch-type small battery cells by licensing Bell Lab’s original patent. Robin Zeng resolved the battery swelling problem in person that had hindered commercialization Thereafter, ATL set up a plant at Baima in Dongguan, Guangdong Province to produce products for use in Bluetooth headsets. ATL started producing batteries for use in portable DVD players in 2002, and supplied batteries for popular US branded MP3 players in 2003. From 2007, ATL began production of batteries for a major US smartphone brand, and continues to supply US smartphone brands today.

ATL raised funds through an A round in 1999 and a B round in 2003. However, investors attempted to withdraw funds after Carlyle—which had planned for a C round—discounted ATL’s competitiveness against other Chinese battery makers. On June 1, 2005, SAE's parent company TDK (where ATL's founders had previously worked) acquired all ATL stakes from investors for $100 million. This made ATL into a subsidiary4 of TDK. At present TDK has a 100 percent stake in ATL.5

Dongguan ATL (Chinese: 东莞新能源科技有限公司) was founded in the Dongguan Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Dongguan in 2006, with a cumulative battery cell output of more than 150 million cells. In 2008, Ningde ATL (Chinese: 宁德新能源科技有限公司) was founded in Ningde in Fujian, the hometown of ATL CEO Robin Zeng. Ningde ATL has become ATL’s core production base, accounting for more than 80 percent of its cell production. ATL’s research center is also located in Ningde.

In 2009, ATL established NVT (Chinese: 东莞新能德科技有限公司), a subsidiary focused on battery packs for ICT products, in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. By 2019, ATL had shipped more than 1 billion battery cells, leading global shipments in lithium polymer batteries. ATL grew significantly on demand for thinner and lighter pouch-type batteries as smartphones switched to embedded, non-user replaceable batteries. As US smartphone brands increased orders for these types of batteries and Chinese smartphone battery makers began to emerge, ATL was able to increase its global market share extensively. As a result, ATL's cumulative shipment of battery cells exceeded 5 billion units in 2019. From 2012, ATL has led in global lithium polymer battery shipments. In 2019, it established an NVT plant in India, embarking on its first overseas production venture, and also entered the medium-sized battery market (including energy storage systems (ESS) and electric motorcycle products). In the same year, ATL established Poweramp (Chinese: 东莞新能安科技有限公司), a battery pack manufacturer for non-ICT products, in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, as it continued to expand its business areas and hubs. The current CEO of ATL is Ji Bin Geng(耿继斌), who had previously worked at SAE.

TDK and CATL

Although TDK acquired 100% of ATL shares, it is not involved in actual business operations like production and sales, as ATL's business sites and key executives are all based in mainland China. TDK receives a partial profit dividend.

Robin Zeng, ATL founder and long-time CEO, launched a power battery team under Ningde ATL and appointed Huang Shilin as head of the team. The company established by spinning off this team in 2011 is now Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the largest maker of mid- to large-sized batteries for electric vehicles. CATL's Chinese name literally means "Ningde Era Amperex Technology," or "ATL in Ningde." CATL's Chinese mission is 宁德时新能源科技股份有限公司, with 宁德时, meaning Ningde Era in front of ATL's Chinese mission, 新能源科技有限公司. CATL's headquarters, research institutes and production facilities are also located in Ningde City, Fujian Province. Both companies adjoin Ningde ATL and Lithium New Energy Industrial Park located in Ningde City, Fujian Province. At the time of CATL’s founding, Ningde ATL owned a 15% stake. This was sold to the Ningbo Joint Innovation Of New Energy Investment Management Partnership L.P. (Chinese: 宁波联创: 宁波联合创新新能源投资管理合伙企业) for 89 million yuan6, and there is currently no stake ownership relationship between ATL and CATL. Nevertheless, most of CATL's current executives came from ATL, and their business facilities are also nearby. There is thus active collaboration between the two companies in various areas, including technology and human resources exchanges, and purchases, etc. Until 2017 (just before CATL was listed) Robin Zeng maintained high-ranking positions in ATL, including as the CEO, exercising direct management rights. In April 2021, the two companies announced the establishment of two joint ventures for residential ESS and medium-sized batteries for electric motorcycles.7 A total of 12 billion yuan has been spent on the battery cell manufacturing joint venture, with CATL and ATL owning stakes of 70% and 30%, respectively. The two companies also announced a cross-licensing agreement for CATL's lithium battery technology, with ATL agreeing to pay CATL 150 million dollars over 10 years as a royalty. According to the most recent announcement made in April 2022,8 the battery cell manufacturing joint venture will be named Xiamen Ampcore Technology Limited, and the pack manufacturing venture will be named Xiamen Ampack Technology Limited. Both joint ventures will be located in Xiamen City, Fujian Province. The cell manufacturing joint venture will have a capital of 5 billion yuan, which had been reduced compared to the April 2021 announcement.

1 Front views of ATL subsidiaries Source: ATL website https://www.atlbattery.com 2 Robin Zeng said in an interview that Amperex is a combination of two words – Ampere and Excellence. 3 Source: Chen Tang-Hua’s personal website(https://tanghua-chen.muchloved.com/) 4 https://www.investegate.co.uk/tdk-corporation---tdk-/rns/acquisition/200506011101159901M/ 5 https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/20210513_01.html 6 In the same year, a 25% stake in CATL owned by Li Ping, one of the founding members of CATL, was transferred to Ningbo Meishan Bonded Area Ruiting Investment Co., Ltd (Ningbo Meishan Bonded Area Ruiting Investment Co., Ltd.(宁波梅山保税港区瑞庭投资有限公司) with Zeng Yuqun becoming the largest shareholder of CATL. 7 https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/20220427_02.html 8 https://www.tdk.com/en/news_center/press/20210428_01.html