Authorities approve Bosch and Samsung joint venture

Robert Bosch GmbH and Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. signed an agreement to form a fifty-fifty joint venture to develop, manufacture, and sell lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications. All the relevant authorities have now given their approval for the joint venture, the precondition to company closing. The company will be known as “SB LiMotive Co. Ltd.”. Operations expected to start in September 2008. The objective is to series-manufacture highly efficient lithium-ion batteries customized to automotive requirements and to market them worldwide from 2011.