RE:Int'l Battery to buy lithium extraction tech for sharesJohn Burba was offered $325 Million U,S, for his lithium extraction process and now it's in IBAT.
https://fortune.com/2016/06/08/tesla-lithium-startup-simbol/ Tesla Tried To Buy A Lithium Startup for $325 Million
Two years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered $325 million to buy the once promising startup Simbol Materials, which was extracting small amounts of lithium from hot and salty water from underground near the Salton Sea east of San Diego.
But the acquisition offer, reported on Wednesday by the local newspaper, The Desert Sun, fell through. The report, based partly on an offer letter from Musk to Simbol’s then CEO John Burba, suggests that at least one reason was that the now-defunct Simbol, a venture capital-backed startup, wanted a much higher valuation.
Tesla (TSLA, -1.18%) wanted the technology, expertise, and personnel at Simbol to help the electric car maker potentially tap into new alternative, and more environmentally-friendly sources of lithium. Lithium is a key ingredient in the batteries Tesla buys and plans to produce at its massive battery factory, called the Gigafactory, now under construction outside of Reno, Nev.