Maxwell Technologies made the announcement on February 3 in San Diego, California. After Tesla acquires all the issued and outstanding shares of the Company, Maxwell Technologies will be merged with a Tesla subsidiary and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesla.
Tesla will be buying the company’s 45.9 million shares for $4.75 a share in the transaction. This represents a 55 percent premium over Maxwell’s closing price of $3.07 a share on Friday. The all-stock transaction will make the company worth $218 million, reports CNBC News.
“We are very excited with today’s announcement that Tesla has agreed to acquire Maxwell. Tesla is a well-respected and world-class innovator that shares a common goal of building a more sustainable future,” said Dr. Franz Fink, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maxwell in a statement.
“We believe this transaction is in the best interests of Maxwell stockholders and offers investors the opportunity to participate in Tesla’s mission of accelerating the advent of sustainable transport and energy,” he added.
“We are always looking for potential acquisitions that make sense for the business and support Tesla’s mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy,” said Tesla in a statement sent to CNBC.
Improved storage capacity is critical
Maxwell, whose customers include General Motors and Lamborghini, makes ultracapacitors. The company has developed a patented, proprietary and fundamental dry electrode manufacturing technology for ultracapacitors that are used to extend the life of automobile batteries.
This ultracapacitor technology is also used for safe and reliable power solutions in applications for consumer and industrial electronics, renewable energy, the electrical grid, and information technology. Improved power storage is critical to two of Tesla’s main products – electric cars and backup power for homes and to power utilities.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a big fan of ultracapacitor technology. He once tweeted he wanted to do research on them at Stanford University because he believes they could be a more likely source of a breakthrough in electric vehicle technology than batteries.
yes_andre I'm a big fan of ultracapacitors. Was going to do my PhD at Stanford on them. But we need a breakthrough in energy density…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2013
