BASF SE is creating a new global business unit that will bring together its current and future battery-related electromobility activities. As part of this transition, a new global business unit Battery Materials will be formed, effective January 1, 2012. This business unit will integrate the existing battery activities of BASF’s Catalysts division, which is focused on cathode materials development; its Intermediates division, which is focused on electrolyte formulations, and BASF Future Business GmbH, which is focused on next-generation lithium battery opportunities. This operating consolidation will take place throughout the first half of 2012, leveraging the collaborative efforts of each of these business teams to ensure a seamless migration for BASF and its market constituents.

The new Battery Materials unit will be integrated into the Catalysts division and led by Ralf Meixner, who is with BASF for 29 years and currently serves as vice president, Business Management, Industrial Petrochemicals Europe. Effective January 1, 2012, Meixner will assume the role of senior vice president, Battery Materials, and become part of the company’s Catalysts division leadership team, based in Iselin, NJ, USA.

Over the next five years, BASF will invest a three-digit million Euro sum in researching, developing and the production of battery materials. As well as developing materials for lithium-ion batteries, which include solutions for anodes and separators, the company is also researching future battery concepts such as lithium-sulfur or lithium-air.

• BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany