Denise Gray, president of LG Energy Solution’s Michigan unit, said the investment, which would indirectly create another 6,000 jobs during construction, was being made to respond to the growing electric vehicle market.
LG is also in advanced talks with General Motors to build a more than $2 billion second joint venture cell manufacturing plant in Tennessee that could be announced later this month. The first LG-GM JV plant is nearing completion in Lordstown, Ohio. Both companies have confirmed they are in discussions for a new plant.
LG Chem has been in a battle with crosstown rival SK Innovation after it alleged that SK stole trade secrets. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) sided with LG Chem in February, but SK Innovation has lobbied the White House to overturn the decision, warning it would force it to halt production on a new factory in Georgia.
SK Innovation has received proposed terms, including financial reparations, from LG Energy Solution for a settlement to resolve the feud, a source told Reuters. SK Innovation said on Thursday it will not accept any proposal that would end up crippling SK’s U.S. business.
Lucky Strike maker expands into cannabis
British American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike and other cigarette brands, said on Thursday it will buy a nearly 20 percent stake in Canada-based cannabis producer Organigram for about $175.8 million as it seeks to expand beyond its main tobacco business.
Organigram grows cannabis and makes cannabis-derived products in Canada, where marijuana was legalized in 2018.
Big Tobacco and liquor companies in North America have already made large investments in the industry, with cannabis seen as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes.
With top Democratic lawmakers in the United States also promising to decriminalize marijuana use, analysts and experts predict record investment in the industry this year.
BAT’s investment comes two days after it laid out environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, including switching more people to less harmful products.
The group aims to achieve at least $6.9 billion in revenue from sales of e-cigarettes, tobacco heating and oral nicotine products in 2025.
Elsewhere in the industry, Marlboro maker Altria has invested in pot producer Cronos Group, while Corona beer-maker Constellation Brands has a stake in Canopy Growth, the largest cannabis company globally by market value.
CVS Health is expanding the administration of coronavirus vaccines to more states in the United States, the drugstore chain said on Thursday, taking its program to nearly 1,200 stores across 29 states and Puerto Rico. The company, which has administered nearly 4.5 million coronavirus vaccine doses so far through the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program, said appointments for the newly added states will be available from March 13.
Bumble said it expects pent up demand from people who had been avoiding dating in person due to the coronavirus pandemic, after it reported a bigger-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter revenue. Dating apps have benefited from social distancing restrictions that made people yearn for company as casual gatherings became a rarity.
Vimeo is immune to a lawsuit by a church whose account it deleted for promoting gay conversion, the federal appeals court in New York ruled. Church United and its president and founder, James Domen, claimed Vimeo illegally discriminated against them on the bases of religion and sexual orientation. The appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling that dismissed the suit.
