DLA Piper Represented XTC Europe on its joint venture projects with French SOE Orano

DLA Piper has advised XTC New Energy Materials Europe GmbH (XTC Europe) on its joint venture projects with Orano CAM and Orano PCAM under the Orano group, a French multinational in the energy sector. XTC Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of XTC New Energy Materials (Xiamen) Co. Ltd. (XTC). The initial registered capital of the two joint venture companies is EUR20 million, of which the CAM joint venture company will be 51% owned by XTC Europe, 49% by Orano CAM, and the PCAM joint venture company will be 49% owned by XTC Europe and 51% by Orano PCAM. Parties intend to provide further financing to the joint ventures with a combination of equity and debt capital.

XTC is a publicly traded company listed on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and is primarily engaged in the research and development, production and sales of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. Their main products are lithium cobalt oxide and nickel-cobalt-manganese ternary materials, mainly used in electronic products and electric vehicles.

Orano is a French state-owned, multinational nuclear fuel cycle company headquartered in France. The company is engaged in uranium mining, conversion-enrichment, spent fuel recycling, nuclear logistics, dismantling, and nuclear cycle engineering activities.

President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who paid close attention to the deal, highly appraised the impact of the transaction, adding that the joint venture would create 1,700 jobs, commented at the Dunkirk Urban Community offices in Dunkerque “(The XTC/Orano JV) will allow us to secure the top end of the value chain in lithium batteries production.”

James Chang, Corporate Partner and project lead for this deal at DLA Piper said, “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to lead this transaction, in particular, at this crucial moment of the Sino-French relationship. We worked tirelessly day and night together with our clients and did our best to overcome all the challenges encountered. It truly gave me great joy to see the parties signing the agreement in the end.”

Simon Charbit, Corporate Partner and Location Head of DLA Piper’s Paris Office added, “This transaction involved a big team at DLA Piper. It is another demonstration of DLA Piper’s capability in delivering service across different jurisdictions in a seamless approach. We are no doubt the firm with one team without borders.”

The DLA Piper team was led by Beijing-based corporate Partner James Chang, supported by Samuel Mai (Of Counsel, Hong Kong), Stephanie Zhang (Associate, Beijing) and Qianshan Liu (Consultant, Shanghai). Simon Charbit (Partner and Location Head, Corporate, Paris), Thomas Priolet (Partner, Paris), and Alice Magnan (Partner, Paris) joined from our Paris office with Natalia Li (Senior Associate, Paris) and Loic Bustos (Associate, Paris) providing French law advice. Horace Lam (Co-Country Managing Partner, China and Co-Head of IPT, Asia) and Allen Xu (Senior Consultant, Beijing) advised on the IP aspects of the transaction. Edouard Sarrazin (Partner, Paris), with the support of Quitterie Stein (Associate, Paris) and Nathan Bush (Partner, Singapore), advised on competition law. Erwan Laceteau (Finance, Projects & Restructuring Partner, Paris) advised on financing and Stewart Wang (Partner, Shanghai) provided general corporate and regulatory advice.