Li-Cycle Welcomes Lithium Industry Veterans to Board of Advisors

By: Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. via Business Wire

August 24, 2021 at 07:00 AM EDT

John Mitchell and Govind Arora to help advance the Company’s global expansion

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (NYSE: LICY) ("Li-Cycle" or "the Company"), an industry leader in lithium-ion battery resource recovery and the leading lithium-ion battery recycler in North America, today announced that John Mitchell and Govind Arora have joined the Company’s Board of Advisors.

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John Mitchell (Photo: Business Wire)

Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Arora both have an exceptional track record leading prominent companies at the senior executive level and join Li-Cycle at a critical juncture following its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. They will be providing management advisory services to Li-Cycle’s senior management team, leveraging their experience and expertise in the areas of business development, commercial support and strategic and business planning. The other members of the Board of Advisors are Dr. Yuan Gao and Dr. Ahmad Ghahreman, who have been providing technical advisory services to the Company over the past several years.

"John and Govind both have impressive backgrounds and we’re looking forward to leveraging their expertise as we pursue our growth plan,” said Ajay Kochhar, co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Li-Cycle. “They are aligned with our vision to create a truly circular battery supply chain by utilizing our breakthrough commercial technology to transform end-of-life batteries and battery production waste into materials of great value for our customers and partners.”

John Mitchell

“Li-Cycle has already served as a catalyst for tremendous, positive change in the lithium-ion battery market,” said Mr. Mitchell. “Li-Cycle’s technology is second to none and I look forward to working closely with Ajay and his best-in-class management team as the Company continues to disrupt an industry that needs a low-cost and sustainable battery supply chain.”

Mr. Mitchell brings more than 30 years of experience in executive leadership roles in specialty chemicals, energy materials, utility infrastructure, and industrial gases. He is currently a partner and co-founder of Blue Horizon Advisors and Blue Horizon Capital, focused on the world’s transition to the new energy economy by supporting leading companies to scale and providing index-based investment products across the new energy economy thematic. Previously, he served as President of Lithium for the Albemarle Corporation, where he guided Albemarle’s lithium division to a global market leading position. Prior to Albemarle, Mr. Mitchell served as Rockwood Lithium’s North American President, Environmental Management Corporation’s President, and Senior Advisor to Linde’s business in Africa and South America.

Mr. Mitchell holds his B.S. in Materials Engineering from Drexel University.

Govind Arora

“Li-Cycle is a pioneer, establishing a proven lithium-ion battery recycling technology before it became the prevalent topic that it is presently,” said Mr. Arora. “The Company has a robust global growth strategy that will be essential in contributing to a circular lithium-ion battery market that continues to demonstrate rapidly growing demand for critical, finite materials.”

Mr. Arora brings more than 20 years of experience in energy materials, the automotive industry, industrial automation, and the aerospace industry. He currently serves as a partner and co-founder of Blue Horizon Advisors and Blue Horizon Capital. Previously, he was Chief Commercial Officer for Albemarle Corporation’s Lithium business, which is the global leader in advanced lithium materials as well as a thought leader within the energy storage value chain. Prior to Albemarle, Mr. Arora led several businesses to achieve high growth, serving as President of Stanley Black & Decker’s Latin American Group, Chief Financial Officer for Stanley Black & Decker’s Global Emerging Markets business and Chief Financial Officer for Honeywell’s process solutions business in Asia, based out of China.

Mr. Arora holds a B.A. in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton and acquired his Executive MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Dr. Yuan Gao and Dr. Ahmad Ghahreman

As disclosed above, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Arora will be joining the Company’s existing Advisory Board members, Dr. Yuan Gao and Dr. Ahmad Ghahreman.

Dr. Gao is Vice-Chairman of the board of directors of Qinghai Taifeng Pulead Lithium-Energy Technology Co. Ltd. (Pulead), one of China’s leading lithium-ion battery cathode producers and a key player in the lithium-ion battery supply chain. Dr. Gao was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulead and prior to joining Pulead in 2014, he held senior positions with Molycorp Inc. and FMC Corp.’s lithium division. Dr. Gao originally obtained his BSc from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his PhD in Physics from the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Ghahreman has over 15 years of hydrometallurgical/wet chemistry experience. He has deep expertise in the advanced recovery of many of the constituents in lithium-ion batteries, gained in the context of primary resource mineral processing and hydrometallurgy. Dr. Ghahreman has a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr. Ghahreman joined the Technology Centre of Barrick Gold Corp. in Vancouver, as an NSERC Industrial Research & Development (IRDF) Postdoctoral Fellow. He joined The Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining at Queen’s University as an Assistant Professor in January 2014.

About Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.

Li-Cycle (NYSE:LICY) is on a mission to leverage its innovative Spoke & Hub Technologies™ to provide a customer-centric, end-of-life solution for lithium-ion batteries, while creating a secondary supply of critical battery materials. Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are increasingly powering our world in automotive, energy storage, consumer electronics, and other industrial and household applications. The world needs improved technology and supply chain innovations to better manage battery manufacturing waste and end-of-life batteries and to meet the rapidly growing demand for critical and scarce battery-grade raw materials through a closed-loop solution. For more information, visit https://li-cycle.com/.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this communication may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as "may," "will," “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely”, “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” and other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Li-Cycle and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: (i) the possibility that the anticipated benefits and/or the anticipated tax treatment of the recently completed transaction between the Company and Peridot Acquisition Corp. (the “transaction”) will not be realized; (ii) the risk that stockholder litigation in connection with the transaction or other settlements or investigations may result in significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability; (iii) changes in general economic and/or industry specific conditions; (iv) possible disruptions from the transaction that could harm Li-Cycle’s business; (v) the ability of Li-Cycle to retain, attract and hire key personnel; (vi) potential adverse reactions or changes to relationships with customers, employees, suppliers or other parties; (vii) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (viii) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism, outbreak of war or hostilities and any epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreak (including COVID-19), as well as management’s response to any of the aforementioned factors; and (ix) the ability of Li-Cycle to maintain the listing of the Company’s common shares or warrants on The New York Stock Exchange, and (x) other risk factors as detailed from time to time in Li-Cycle’s reports and other documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and securities regulatory authorities in Canada, including, without limitation, the Company’s final prospectus dated August 10, 2021 filed with the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada and the Form 20-F filed with the SEC. The foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive. You should not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by applicable law, Li-Cycle does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.