Indonesia's Antam Sells $467 Million worth of Shares to CATL

Aneka Tambang, an Indonesian miner, has sold $467.18 million in shares in two of its subsidiaries to a unit of China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer.

Aneka Tambang, also known as Antam, disclosed the sales to Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend Co Ltd (CBL) through the latter's Hong Kong unit in a late Thursday disclosure. According to its website, CBL is a holding subsidiary of CATL.

CBL now owns 49% of PT Sumberdaya Arindo and 60% of PT Feni Haltim, following the completion of the sales on Thursday.

According to the statement, the sales are part of an agreement to establish joint ventures to develop an electric vehicle "ecosystem" in Indonesia, which includes plans to build a high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) plant to process nickel ore into materials used in batteries.

The government of Indonesia, which has the world's largest nickel reserves, has set an ambitious goal of producing 600,000 electric vehicles by 2030. That is more than 100 times the number of units sold in Indonesia during the first half of 2023.

Companies such as China's Neta EV, Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, and South Korea's Hyundai Motors have already made investments in Indonesia's burgeoning EV battery industry. Tesla and BYD are also being courted by the country.