Navitas Systems gets A123's government contracts

From within a story at EE Times:

A123 looked like the next big thing in cleantech when it emerged as one of the hottest MIT spinoffs about the time the Obama administration arrived. The company had – and still has – promising lithium ion battery technology, but at least one battery recall showed that A123 would have a hard time delivering on all the promise of clean technology.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection mid-year, and it looked for awhile like its technology would remain in domestic hands when power management specialist Johnson Controls made a strong bid to acquire A123. But the Wisconsin company along with Siemens and other suitors were outbid in November by the well-heeled Chinese auto parts conglomerate Wanxiang Group Corp. for $256.6 million.

While A123’s demise falls short of matching the failure of solar startup Solyndra in 2011 – A123’s key government contracts will remain with another U.S. company (Navitas Systems) – the bankruptcy of a promising cleantech startup with solid battery technology represents a blow to the renewable energy sector.

See also previous IPBiz posts on A123, including


A123 battery company being bought by Chinese Wanxiang