Hexagon Purus acquires stake in cryogenic hydrogen storage technology company
Hexagon Purus has entered into an agreement to acquire 40% of Cryoshelter's liquid H2 business. The transaction is in conjunction with Hexagon Composites’ acquisition of a 40% stake in Cryoshelter’s liquid natural gas (LNG) business.
Cryoshelter’s liquid H2 tank technology is in the early stage of development and builds on superior and differentiated LNG technology that provides more fuel capacity and higher hold times (a critical requirement for cryogenic storage) than competing offerings. The transaction brings early-stage expertise in liquid H2 tank technology for zero emission mobility applications and could potentially result in a future complementary offering to Hexagon Purus’ market leading compressed H2 cylinder technology.
Key terms and structure of the transaction
Initial investment of €3.5 MM for 40% of the shares in Cryoshelter’s liquid H2 business.
The transaction contemplates a split of Cryoshelter into separate legal entities for the liquid H2 and liquid natural (renewable) gas businesses, enabling Hexagon Purus’ direct investment in early-stage liquid H2 tank technology.
The separation of Cryoshelter’s liquid H2 and LNG businesses recognizes the different phases of market and product development – there is an established market for LNG mobility solutions and Cryoshelter’s technology is already at a pre-commercial stage, while the market and products for liquid H2 storage are in the early stage of development with longer runway to commercialization.
Synergies between the separated business entities are expected to be maintained in key functional areas, sharing resources where possible.
Hexagon Purus and Cryoshelter will further develop the technology and business over the next few years.
Hexagon Purus has options to buy remaining interests in Cryoshelter over the next 5 -10 years.
Closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the 3Q of 2022, subject to fulfilment of certain closing conditions and customary regulatory approvals.
See Hexagon Composites announcement on 21 April 2022 for more details on their acquisition of Cryoshelter’s LNG tank technology business.