nissan agrees to sell car battery unit to china's envision group - lithium batteries for sale

TOKYO (Reuters)-
Nissan Motor Co. , Ltd. 7201. T)
The company said on Friday it agreed to sell its electric vehicle battery unit to the Chinese renewable energy company Envision Group for undisclosed amounts.
Earlier, Nissan last month canceled a potential deal to sell the company $1 billion to GSR Capital, saying the Chinese investment company lacked funds to buy.
Under the agreement, Nissan will retain 25% of the shares or equity of the newly established entity of Envision.
The deal covering battery plants in Tennessee and the UK is expected to end in next March.
Nissan said in a statement that employees of all facilities covered by the agreement will continue to be employed.
"The deal will enable Nissan to focus on developing and producing markets --
Leading electric vehicles-in line with the goals set in our mid-term plan, "Nissan chief competition officer shannenghong said in a statement.
In a statement, Envision founder and CEO Zhang Lei said the partnership will help create innovative solutions for the "IoT value chain.
Japanese automakers have always wanted to sell automotive energy supply companies (AESC)
, Because it seems to be lower than its unit purchase
Lithium battery with high cost and good performance.
Renault SA, its auto partner (RENA. PA)
LG Chem from South Korea (051910. KS).
On last August, Nissan announced plans to sell AESC to GSR in undisclosed amounts.
A source told Reuters at the time that the Chinese company had agreed to pay $1 billion a day for the transaction.
But the deal faces a series of delays, including GSR Capital and NEC Corp . (6701. T)
The company holds 42% of the company's shares in the acquisition of its subsidiary NEC Energy Devices, which holds 7% of the company's shares.
NEC said in a separate statement that it had approved the sale of its shares to proceed with the idea.
Shares of NEC energy equipment will also be sold to the Chinese company.