Investor I Squared Capital acquires a majority stake in Entek

ENTEK Lithium Battery Separator plant under construaction in Terre Haute, Indiana. Image: ENTEK

I Squared Capital (“I Squared”), a global infrastructure investment manager, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority equity interest in ENTEK Technology Holdings LLC (“ENTEK”), a leading global manufacturer of battery separators.

I Squared’s $800 million investment complements a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program of up to $1.3 billion. With initial funding already provided, these combined investments underscore the importance of strong public-private collaboration in securing U.S. domestic manufacturing of strategic technologies.

The investment will fund construction of a gigafactory in Terre Haute, Indiana – the first and only facility of its kind in the U.S. producing wet-process lithium-ion battery separators, critical components for batteries powering electric vehicles, energy storage systems, defense equipment, and digital infrastructure. The facility is expected to create approximately 763 construction jobs and 635 operations jobs in Terre Haute once operational.

Over the last four decades, ENTEK has developed and built a resilient, vertically integrated business model based on core capabilities in energy storage, advanced materials, and equipment manufacturing. Supported by Endeavour Capital and Joshua Green Corporation’s investment in 2019, ENTEK has grown its operations across eight countries and is the only company to have expanded the application of advanced materials to include all battery separator types, including lead acid, lithium, and other emerging energy storage technologies.

The Terre Haute, Indiana project, which will be executed in partnership with Clayco as the EPC contractor and Brueckner Group, the world leader in biaxial stretching equipment, will produce 1.4 billion square meters of wet-process lithium-ion battery separators annually in its first two phases and is designed to expand to 2.1 billion square meters. The investment will position ENTEK as the only scaled, U.S.-based supplier able to meet the sourcing requirements for battery manufacturers to receive 45X production tax credits and comply with the content requirements under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as amended by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which reduce the allowance for Chinese materials – including separators.