SK Tes Japan agrees equity investment with Sojitz

Sojitz is engaged in a wide range of businesses globally, including buying, selling, importing, and exporting goods, manufacturing and selling products, providing services, and planning and coordinating projects in Japan and overseas.

Sojitz also invests in various sectors including automobiles, aerospace, medical infrastructure, energy, mineral resources, chemicals, agricultural and forestry resources, consumer goods, and industrial parks. Headquartered in Japan, the Sojitz Group consists of approximately 400 subsidiaries located around the world.

With recent concerns surrounding resource depletion and uneven commodity resource distribution, the resource recycling business is expected to become increasingly important. This investment enables SK Tes (previously known as TES prior to rebranding in 2024) to combine its extensive capabilities with Sojitz’s deep experience in metals and comprehensive resource recycling businesses to develop and innovate outcomes for commodities that will become a significant source of raw materials in the coming decades. Sojitz will partner with SK Tes to promote SK Tes services in Japan, leveraging Sojitz’s extensive network to expand SK Tes’ lithium-ion battery recycling and energy storage businesses.

“SK Tes’ mission is to make a decade of difference by securely, safely, and sustainably transforming and re-purposing 1 billion kilograms of assets by 2030,” said Gary Steele, SK Tes’ former Chief Executive Officer. “Sojitz’s experience and shared vision of a more sustainable world makes them an ideal partner for SK Tes. The Sojitz investment reaffirms that, and we couldn’t be more excited about partnering with them to offer sustainable technology solutions that drive the circular economy in Japan.”

At the time of this release TES (prior to rebranding to become SK Tes in 2024) was backed by Navis Capital Partners, one of Southeast Asia’s largest private equity companies, with over US$5 billion under management. Jean-Christophe Marti, Senior Partner at Navis, commented: “Looking ahead, global manufacturing is potentially facing raw material commodity shortages stemming from the exponential proliferation of IoT devices, electric vehicles, and mobility devices. Visionary companies like Sojitz understand that, and this partnership is another step in the realization of our foundational strategy to build a global sustainability leader around the TES platform.”

About SK Tes

Founded in 2005 as TES-AMM, SK Tes is a circular economy leader focused on helping customers with the commissioning, deployment, and retirement of IT assets. As one of the world’s largest providers of IT lifecycle services, SK Tes understands the common challenges faced when managing IT equipment throughout its lifecycle. Our bespoke, cost-effective solutions address these challenges while maintaining compliance with all local and international data security, environmental, and industry regulations.

SK Tes has an unmatched global footprint and operates 40 locations across 20 countries with more than 1,700 employees. Our mission is to create outstanding value for our customers, employees, and stakeholders, as well as for the global community, by leveraging our unique combination of security, value recovery, and environmental expertise.

About Sojitz

Find out more at Sojitz.