Asahi Kasei Corporation and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. establish joint venture in Canada

Asahi Kasei Corporation and Honda Motor Corporation announced that they have established a new joint venture in Canada to focus on the production of lithium-ion battery separators. This decision is to meet the growing demand of the North American electric vehicle market and to ensure a stable supply of high-performance batteries. The plant has an annual production capacity of 700 million square meters of separators. Honda's Canadian subsidiary Honda Canada Inc. acquired a 25% stake in the joint venture by subscribing to new shares issued by E-Materials' third-party placement. Honda has also committed to invest approximately 417 million Canadian dollars (approximately US$300 million) in the joint venture.