Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (NYSE: LICY) (“Li-Cycle” or the “Company”), a leading global lithium-ion battery resource recovery company, is pleased to announce that the Company and Glencore International AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore plc (LON: GLEN) (together with its subsidiaries, “Glencore”), a leading producer, recycler and marketer of nickel and cobalt for the production of lithium-ion batteries, are resuming their collaboration to assess the technical and economic viability of developing a new Hub facility in Portovesme, Italy, including a concept and pre-feasibility study.
The study is expected to be led and funded by Glencore, with Li-Cycle providing technical expertise and support. The project would utilize infrastructure and equipment at Glencore’s existing Portovesme metallurgical complex in Sardinia, Italy and leverage Li-Cycle’s patented Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to produce critical battery materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt from recycled battery content. The black mass processed at the Portovesme Hub would be supplied from Glencore’s commercial network and Li-Cycle’s Spoke recycling facility located near Magdeburg, Germany.
Once operational, the Portovesme Hub would be expected to support the European battery supply chain by providing sustainable post-processing recycling capacity. The Company believes that the project would also support meeting EU minimum recycled content requirements for new batteries and the EU recycling target of at least 15% of strategic raw materials by 20301.
“We are pleased to continue our assessment and study of the Portovesme Hub project with Glencore,” said Ajay Kochhar, Li-Cycle’s President and CEO. “We believe the project has significant potential and can address the lack of post-processing recycling capacity in Europe needed for a localized closed-loop battery supply chain and provide a sustainable secondary source of critical battery materials. Separately, we remain focused on securing a full funding package needed to restart construction at our flagship Rochester Hub project and enable the first advance under the finalized DOE loan facility.”
Following the recently announced $475-million loan facility with the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE Loan Facility”),2 a major milestone in the Company’s funding efforts for the Rochester Hub project, Li-Cycle remains focused on securing the complete funding package required to restart the Rochester Hub project's construction and satisfy funding conditions for the first advance under the DOE Loan Facility. Li-Cycle is also continuing efforts to strengthen its Spoke business through optimization initiatives and improvements at its core Generation 3 Spoke recycling facilities.
The closing of the DOE Loan Facility triggers an automatic modification of the first tranche of the unsecured convertible notes issued by the Company to Glencore on May 31, 2022, as amended and restated on March 25, 2024 (the “First A&R Glencore Convertible Note”). The modification, effective December 9, 2024, will result in adjustments to the maturity date, interest rate, and conversion price of the First A&R Glencore Convertible Note, as well as introduce mandatory redemption provisions and security interests, as described in the Company’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The adjustment to the conversion price of the First A&R Glencore Convertible Note is expected to increase Glencore’s beneficial ownership in the Company on a pro forma, fully-diluted basis to approximately 66% as of December 9, 2024. Definitive information regarding the modification will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed after the completion of the modification.
