LG Energy Solution will take 100% ownership of NextStar Energy, Canada’s premier commercial-scale battery facility, as partner Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) moves to divest its 49% stake in a strategic pivot toward leaner operations.
The transition, announced Friday, marks a major consolidation in the North American battery landscape.
The Windsor, Ontario-based facility, which has already attracted over $5 billion CAD in investment, will now serve as a primary launchpad for LGES’s aggressive push into the Energy Storage System (ESS) market.
While Stellantis is offloading its equity to focus on capital efficiency amidst a cooling electric vehicle market, the automaker will remain a primary customer, maintaining its long-term supply agreements for NextStar-produced cells.
The deal comes at a pivotal moment for LGES, which is retooling its global strategy to offset moderating EV demand with the surging power needs of AI data centers and renewable energy grids.
By taking sole control, LGES can more nimbly reallocate NextStar’s capacity—which began mass-producing Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries for ESS use late last year—toward its goal of surpassing 60 GWh of global ESS capacity in 2026.