Covington & Burling LLP
12/17/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/17/2024 12:29
Covington Represents SK Innovation, SK On and SK Battery America With Respect to a $9.63 Billion Loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to BlueOval SK
Covington Represents SK Innovation, SK On and SK Battery America With Respect to a $9.63 Billion Loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to BlueOval SK
December 17, 2024
NEW YORK-Covington advised SK Innovation, SK On, and SK Battery America in the negotiation and closing of a direct loan of up to $9.63 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to BlueOval SK (a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and SK Battery America), for the construction of up to three manufacturing plants to produce batteries for Ford's electric vehicles. Collectively, the plants, one located in Tennessee and two in Kentucky, would annually enable up to 120 gigawatt hours of battery manufacturing capacity.
This is the largest loan to date from DOE's Advanced Technologies Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program.
SK Innovation is a global energy and chemical company that, among other things, is involved in the research and development of high-energy density batteries as well as oil and gas production and exploration. SK On is a company that is focused on developing applications for battery technologies, including supplying batteries for use in electric vehicles. SK Battery America is a subsidiary of SK On that focuses on the production of batteries for electric vehicles in the United States.
The Covington transaction team was led by Brian Yang, Peter Schwartz, and Matthew Foster. The team also includedWinslow Taub, Brandon Palmen, Lily Hines, and Ana Rosic (intellectual property); William Park, Eugene Yoon, Melanie Cook, and James DeFillippo (corporate); Heather Haberl and Adam Osielski (real estate); Ansgar Simon and Jamin Koo (tax); Ross Demain (antitrust); David Engvall (legal opinion); and Peter Flanagan, David Lorello, and Will Ossoff (trade controls).