Element Expands Battery Testing Business in South Korea With Acquisition of NCT

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Element Materials Technology (Element), a global leader in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) services has acquired NCT Co., Ltd. (NCT) one of the principal battery testing companies in South Korea. The purchase marks Element’s continued expansion in Asia and adds unique destructive battery testing capabilities to its Connected Technologies business and the region.

Headquartered in Dongtan, Hwaseong, NCT provides comprehensive testing and certification services across battery and electrical safety, reliability testing and analysis, and wireless, for the mobility, consumer goods, medical device, and telecommunication markets. Its 50 colleagues bring great expertise in the safety, performance, regulatory, and abuse testing areas for small, medium, and large format cells, modules, and packs. NCT accreditations and certifications include KOLAS, KATS, RRA, and IEC, covering Korea and worldwide.

The acquisition bolsters Element’s Connected Technologies and Mobility business unit, comprised of 23 combined laboratories across the USA, UK, Germany, China, South Korea, and Japan, and allows for commercial and technical synergies where appropriate. In addition to NCT’s world-class facilities, customers will gain access to Element’s existing laboratory network and team of nearly 1,000 technology experts, equipped technically, operationally, and geographically to make certain that products are safe, compliant, and fit for purpose.

Matt Hopkinson, EVP of EMEAA at Element, said: “The acquisition of NCT is an exciting step for Element, as our global Connected Technologies business goes from strength to strength. It is their ambition for growth, underpinned by a strong customer-focused culture in a highly dynamic and fast-growing market, that makes them a great fit to join Element.

“We have invested over $300m into the Connected Technologies business unit and intend to build out our battery testing services extensively and globally. Adding a business of this caliber will help us establish a position of real scale to consistently deliver the best services and investments for our customers.”

Ju-Eok Seo, CEO at NCT, added: “I am delighted that NCT will be joining Element’s network of global laboratories and experts. We will add valuable battery testing expertise and large-scale destructive testing that is unique to the region and Element.

“Element’s clear commitment to growth, and strong track record of integrating new businesses, instils every confidence that this will be a fruitful, long-term partnership.”

Element provides testing for battery use, including the customized safety, failure analysis, performance verification, and life prediction of lithium batteries, for a variety of industries including medical devices, power tools, automotive and mobile devices. Both environmental and mechanical testing of batteries, combined with charge/discharge cycling of cells, temperature monitoring, pressure monitoring, flow monitoring, and data collection, follow leading standards to help bring safe, quality, and compliant products to market.

ENDS

About Element

The Element Materials Technology Group is one of the world’s leading global providers of testing, inspection, and certification services for a diverse range of products, materials, and technologies in advanced industrial supply chains where failure in use is not an option. Headquartered in London, UK, Element’s c.9,000 scientists, engineers, and technologists, work across a global network of over 270+ laboratories, support customers from early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals, and into production ensuring their products are safe and sustainable and achieve market access.

Element has achieved the highest ESG ranking in the testing, inspection and certification industry and a place in the top 150 companies in the world from Sustainalytics, a global leader in ESG research and data. This is built on industry-leading environmental commitments which adopt science-based targets and commit to net zero emissions across its entire global business by 2035.

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