Samsung SDI

Samsung Electronics and its affiliates will jointly invest $1B in Helix Digital Infrastructure, the AI infrastructure company launched by KKR with backing from Nvidia. Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it will put in $500M, with Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance contributing the remainder. The deal lets Samsung draw on capabilities across its affiliates, from semiconductors and cooling systems to data center construction and batteries, as the group looks to expand its role in the global AI infrastructure buildout. Helix, launched in June, is led by Adam Selipsky, the former CEO of Amazon Web Services, and counts KKR, the Kuwait Investment Authority, Nvidia, and U.S. power company Vistra as founding investors. KKR said the new investment comes on top of the more than $10B of funds already committed to the company. Samsung Electronics shares rose 2.13% Tuesday morning, while the benchmark Kospi index fell 0.53%.

Ford Motor Company announced on August 12, 2026 that it will increase US production of its Lincoln vehicles starting in 2030 and phase out imports from China entirely, a move the company said will generate thousands of direct and indirect US jobs. Days earlier, Samsung SDI acquired General Motors' 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, ending a $3.5 billion US battery joint venture between the two companies. Ford CEO Jim Farley called Lincoln a quintessentially American brand and said the company builds in America because it believes in America, noting Ford assembled more than 2 million vehicles domestically in 2025, more than any other automaker. Ford reported roughly $3 billion in gross tariff costs in 2025, with about a $2 billion hit to earnings even after offsets, while General Motors expects gross tariff costs of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion this year alone, a burden that could eat more than 20% of its operating profit. Samsung SDI said it will keep working with General Motors on next-generation prismatic battery technology and plans to repurpose the partially built Indiana plant, originally designed for 27 gigawatt-hours of annual EV battery output, to serve the fast-growing energy storage systems market instead.

Samsung SDI has agreed to reduce its stake in Samsung Display from 15.2% to 10.2%, selling 13.09 million shares at KRW 304,000 each to free up KRW 4.45 trillion, or US$3.2 billion, for investment in future growth businesses. Samsung Display will buy back the shares as treasury stock, with the final valuation subject to change during the repurchasing process. The move comes as Samsung SDI faces rising investment demand in the US amid falling battery electric vehicle sales following the withdrawal of purchase incentives worth up to US$7,500 per vehicle last year. Samsung SDI recently agreed to take over General Motors' almost 50% stake in its Synergy Cells joint venture, giving it full control of the US$3.5 billion battery plant under construction in New Carlisle, Indiana.

Forge Nano has broken ground on a major expansion of its lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Morrisville, North Carolina, backed by up to $100 million in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The expansion will grow the existing 100,000-square-foot operation into a campus approaching 315,000 square feet, create more than 250 jobs, and establish approximately 3 gigawatt-hours of annual battery cell manufacturing capacity at full production, with production expected to begin in 2028. The facility is designed to address U.S. dependence on foreign-controlled battery supply chains for defense and aerospace applications, and its timing aligns with new National Defense Authorization Act battery sourcing requirements taking effect in 2028. Samsung SDI is supporting the project through operational expertise, a conditional procurement agreement for cells beginning in 2028, and a $20 million strategic investment made in July, including $10 million in Series D financing and $10 million in PIPE financing tied to Forge Nano's planned public listing via merger with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co.

General Motors is selling its 49.99% stake in the $3.5 billion Indiana battery plant joint venture to partner Samsung SDI, making the South Korean company sole owner of SDI-GM Synergy Cells Holdings. The purchase price was not disclosed. The two companies will maintain a business relationship through a separate agreement to jointly develop next-generation prismatic battery cells, and GM will continue to source batteries from Samsung SDI. The exit comes amid weaker-than-expected U.S. EV demand following the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September 2025, and GM has already incurred roughly $6 billion in charges related to scaling back its EV strategy.

Forge Nano has secured an additional $23 million in PIPE financing, bringing total PIPE commitments to $123 million as it prepares for a NASDAQ listing via a merger with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II. All of the new PIPE commitments were priced at $10.00 per share. The financing includes a $20 million strategic investment from Samsung SDI, of which $10 million is part of the PIPE and $10 million is part of Forge Nano's Series D round. Forge Nano has also closed its Series D at $97 million, completing its pre-IPO capital formation. Assuming no shareholder redemptions, the public listing would deliver over $367 million in pro forma cash, combining approximately $244 million from the Archimedes II trust with the $123 million in PIPE commitments.

Samsung Group detailed plans to invest 140 trillion won, equivalent to 90 billion dollars, in South Korea's central Chungcheong province for production of display panels, batteries, chips, and chip materials. Samsung Display will spend 67 trillion won in Asan and Cheonan, while Samsung Electronics will invest 56 trillion won to build packaging facilities for high-bandwidth memory chips in Onyang and Cheonan. Samsung SDI will spend 9 trillion won by 2040 in Cheonan for next-generation battery production and research and development. Samsung Electro-Mechanics will invest 8 trillion won by 2040 in Sejong to produce advanced chip packaging materials for AI servers and nurture domestic talent. The plan fits into bigger investment plans the group rolled out on Monday, with details provided by Samsung Display CEO Yi Chung at an event hosted by President Lee Jae Myung.

Forge Nano has entered into a landmark strategic partnership with Samsung SDI to enable U.S. production of advanced battery cells. Samsung SDI will assist Forge Nano in constructing a 3-gigawatt hour per year battery manufacturing facility in Morrisville, North Carolina, with manufacturing expected to begin in 2028. Forge Nano will produce Samsung SDI battery cells alongside its existing cell products at the Gigafactory, and Samsung SDI has signed a conditional procurement contract to purchase cells from the facility starting in 2028. Additionally, Forge Nano becomes an authorized distributor of Samsung SDI cells in the U.S. market, while Samsung SDI is accelerating efforts to incorporate Forge Nano’s Atomic Armor technology into its future battery products.