Walloon industrial group John Cockerill has received approval from the Belfort Commercial Court for its acquisition of McPhy. That French company produces electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen, which can be used, among other things, as fuel for various modes of transportation.
With the acquisition, John Cockerill Hydrogen aims to create a world champion in hydrogen by developing a new product, the ‘MoJo-stack’. John Cockerill will retain 51 of the 71 employees.
Combination of two technologies
The ‘MoJo-stack’ is the result of combining the technological and industrial expertise in electrolysis cells of John Cockerill Hydrogen and McPhy Energy. Scaling up and integrating the new ‘MoJo-stack’ is budgeted at €65 million. By combining John Cockerill’s cells with some of McPhy’s innovative components, they are aiming for a 10-15% gain in competitiveness over current models.
Belfort’s power plant, located in Foussemagne in the French department of Territoire de Belfort (Alsace), spans 22,000 m² and is situated on eight hectares of land. According to AFP, the court approved the acquisition for 600,000 euros.
However, John Cockerill can claim European subsidies through the PIEC program, which was initially awarded to McPhy. The amount in question is 114 million euros, of which 29 million has already been released, an amount corresponding to the price of the plant. Usually, about 50 million euros of those grants would still be available to John Cockerill.
Third factory for the production of electrolysis equipment
The Belfort court had initiated debt restructuring proceedings against McPhy due to serious financial problems and a cash deficit. An attempt was then made to sell McPhy, in which the debt restructuring procedures were converted into a judicial liquidation. Shareholders may consider their investment lost.
John Cockerill operates in the defense, energy, steel, and hydrogen sectors. The group has 8,000 employees worldwide. Late last month, it completed another capital increase of €116 million.
The company intends to utilize the funds to further its strategic development plan, which is centered on hydrogen. Series production of electrolysis equipment has already begun at plants in Seraing, Wallonia, and Aspach, France.
