White & Case Advises Orbia on Joint Venture With Solvay for the Manufacture of Electric Vehicle Battery Materials

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Orbia's Fluorinated Solutions business on its joint venture arrangements with Solvay to create the largest polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) production facilities for battery materials in North America. The project is partially supported from a grant from the US Department of Energy.

The partnership is pivotal for the US electric vehicle battery supply chain and creates the security of supply critical for the success of the North American electric vehicle transition. With more than half of US car sales projected to be electric by 2030, demand for lithium-ion batteries will grow considerably, requiring a robust and secure North American battery materials supply chain. PVDF is a lithium-ion binder and separator coating for electric vehicle batteries that allows electric vehicles to go further on each charge, extends battery life and improves battery safety.

Orbia and Solvay intend to use two production sites: one in Augusta, Georgia for finished products and one in St. Gabriel, Louisiana for raw material conversion to needed intermediates. Both plants are expected to be operational in 2026.

The White & Case team was led by Energy and Infrastructure Projects partners Chris Richardson in Houston, together with Jamie Franklin (Houston) and Sean Goldstein (Miami), with substantial support from counsel Ketan Pastakia (New York) and associates Samer Mahjoub, Yuxi Wang, Anil Tanyildiz, Josh VonTrapp, Ana Louise O'Sullivan, Jack Moxon (all Houston) and Raffaele Turco (New York). Competition law, tax, construction, real property, environmental and other specialist support was provided by partners Strati Sakellariou-Witt (Brussels), David Suggs (New York), Chad McCormick, Taylor Pullins, Jason McCoy, David Strickland, Andrew Zeve, Charlie Koster (all Houston), Katarzyna Czapracka (Brussels), Orion Berg (Paris), local partner Mathis Rust (Düsseldorf) and associates Iakovos Sarmas (Brussels), Sadi Moradi, Neil Clausen (both Houston) and Maciej Gac (Warsaw).

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