Solid Power (formerly DCRC)

On 23 March 2021, Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation III ("DCRC") completed its $350 million IPO, which was sponsored by an affiliate of REL's investment manager. REL made a $0.5 million investment in DCRC at the time of the IPO, as the blank check company began to pursue merger candidates. On 15 June 2021, DCRC announced its business combination agreement with Solid Power, Inc. (“Solid Power”), a Louisville, Colorado based producer of all solid-state batteries for electric vehicles, to which REL committed an additional $20 million to the $165 million PIPE that was raised.

Between DCRC’s IPO and announcing the business combination with Solid Power, Solid Power closed on a $130 million Series B investment raise led by BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, and Volta Energy Technologies. In conjunction with the Series B raise, BMW and Ford expanded their existing joint development agreements with the Company to secure all solid-state batteries for future electric vehicles. Both Ford and BMW will receive full-scale 100 Ah cells for automotive qualification testing and vehicle integration beginning in 2022. Solid Power’s all solid-state platform technology allows for the production of unique cell designs expected to meet performance requirements for each automotive partner.

In August 2021, REL purchased an interest in one of Samsung Ventures' battery technology focused venture capital portfolios (the "Samsung Portfolio") for $30.0 million. The remaining interest was purchased by Riverstone affiliates for $3.0 million. The Samsung Portfolio consists of three unrealised investments with the majority of value deriving from over 1.66 million preferred shares of Solid Power, which were converted into 5.28 million common shares in conjunction with the business combination between DCRC and Solid Power that closed on 8 December 2021. Gross proceeds to Solid Power from the transaction amounted to $542.9 million from a fully committed $195 million PIPE and $347.9 million of cash held in trust net of redemptions; only 0.6 per cent. of shares held by public stockholders of DCRC were redeemed. Of the shares voted at the special meeting of DCRC’s stockholders, over 99.9 per cent. voted to approve the business combination.

Find out more on the Solid Power website.