Bristows has acted for lithium sulfur battery pioneer OXIS Energy on its recent £3.7m equity financing by the Brazilian private equity fund, Aerotec. Aerotec is centred on aerospace and advanced manufacturing and anchored by CODEMIG, the Economic Development Company in the state of Minas Gerais in south-eastern Brazil.

OXIS Energy was established in 2005 and has since developed an innovative Li-S battery chemistry, cells and systems. As the Li-S batteries are more eco-friendly than current technology, this makes them very suitable for the aerospace and electric bus industry. The Aerotec investment paves the way for OXIS Energy to open a subsidiary in Brazil. The new Brazilian team will be trained at OXIS Energy’s headquarters in Oxford in the UK, prior to creating a Research and Development Centre in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. The company will also focus on commercial expansion throughout Latin America. In collaboration with Aerotec and CODEMIG,

OXIS will address the aviation, defence and heavy electric vehicle markets worldwide.

Bristows has worked on successive financings for OXIS during the last 12 months, totalling more than £10m. The team involved in the Aerotec funding was Partner Matt Dennis, and associates Charlie Willison and Alex Evans.