GM To Sell Stake In Michigan Battery Plant To JV Partner For Nearly $1B (Updated)

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a statement from General Motors.

General Motors GM will sell its stake in Ultium Cells LLC’s battery cell plant in Lansing, Michigan to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution, the automaker said in a statement on Monday.

What Happened: Ultium Cells is a joint venture between LG Energy and GM. The stake sale in the plant in Lansing will not change GM’s ownership in Ultium Cells, the company said. The sale will fetch GM nearly $1 billion, according to a Reuters report, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The battery cell plant in Lansing is nearly completed and LG Energy will have immediate access to it to begin equipment installation. The stake sale transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, the company said, without divulging the deal value.

GM refused to divulge the value of the transaction when contacted by Benzinga.

The plant in Lansing currently has about 100 employees and is on track to meet its employment commitments, GM added.

Why It Matters: The automaker will now use the Ultium Cells’ other plants in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee to make battery cells for its EVs.

The company sold 32,095 EVs in the three months through the end of September in the U.S., with the Chevrolet Equinox EV accounting for a majority of the deliveries.

GM delivered about 8 EV models in the U.S. in the third quarter, a lineup longer than competitors such as Tesla and Ford.

However, earlier this year, GM CEO Mary Barra said that the company is delaying its production goal of one million EVs in North America by 2025 end, citing market conditions.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read Next:

• Tesla Rival BYD Marks 68% Growth In November Sales Driven By Popularity Of Plug-In Hybrid EVs

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock