(JW Insights) Sep14 -- Leading Chinese lithium miner Tianqi Lithium(天齐锂业) has invested $150 million in Smart, the electric vehicle joint venture of carmaking giants Mercedes-Benz and Geely Holding Group, to strengthen collaborations in the new energy industry chain, reported Yicai Global on September 14.

“Tianqi Lithium has become the lead investor in Smart’s Series A financing round,” said Tong Xiangbei, chief executive officer of Smart, Chengdu-based Tianqi Lithium announced on September 13. “Both parties have not only reached a financial cooperation but will also take the advantages of the upstream and downstream reaches of the supply chain to create industrial synergy,” Tong added.

“The investment in Smart is the first time Tianqi Lithium has established contact with the most downstream end of the industrial chain,” said Jiang Weiping, founder and chairman of Tianqi Lithium. “This move will further deepen the company’s understanding of the new energy industry chain,” Jiang noted.

Although lithium prices fell in the first half of the year, Tianqi Lithium believes that the fundamentals of the lithium industry will improve in the next few years on the backdrop of new policies and the development of the NEV industry.

Tianqi Lithium’s net profit shrank 38 percent to RMB6.5 billion ($890 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier. Revenue jumped 74 percent to RMB24.8 billion ($3.4 billion), said the Yicai report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)