OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2011. Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Shingo Kaneko) and Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Ltd. (hereafter Toyo Seikan; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President: Shunji Kaneko) have reached a basic agreement on a business tie-up that will target the strengthening of the business for the exterior materials used for lithium-ion batteries.
Based on the basic agreement, the two companies will proceed with discussions on specific issues with a view to establishing a new company through joint investment. With this collaboration, Toppan Printing and Toyo Seikan will aim to create the world’s first specialist manufacturer handling all types of exterior materials for lithium-ion batteries from soft packs (aluminum laminate film) and hard packs (metal can type), to protective metal cases for soft packs.

Background
With global demand for the development of a low-carbon society and diversifying social needs, there is currently demand for products that contribute to improving energy efficiency and advancing social and information infrastructure.
In addition to use in mobile phones, smartphones and personal computers, significant growth is anticipated for the market for lithium-ion batteries with the increase in the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles such as electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars. It is also predicted that rechargeable batteries will become more and more important from the perspective of using energy efficiently. Rising demand is also forecast for further applications and improvements in the performance of the exterior materials used for lithium-ion secondary batteries.

Strengths of the two companies
Toppan Printing and Toyo Seikan will collaborate to create the world’s only total supplier able to provide a lineup of exterior materials for lithium-ion batteries from soft packs and hard packs to protective metal cases for soft packs.
The two companies will combine their technical capabilities and know-how to strengthen the foundations for development, create a consolidated manufacturing and sales structure, and enable the timely provision of lithium-ion battery exterior material products that are highly competitive in a market in which technical innovation is advancing.

Future developments
In order to enhance business efficiency and provide competitive products that meet market needs, Toppan Printing and Toyo Seikan will aim to achieve high quality by strengthening development capabilities and combining manufacturing technologies, and achieve high productivity by introducing new production equipment.