Key Takeaways:
Forge Nano will produce Samsung SDI battery cells on U.S. soil for the first time under a partnership that pairs a tier-1 Asian manufacturer with an American technology company.
Forge Nano Inc., a U.S. atomic layer deposition company merging with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co. (NASDAQ: ATII), struck a strategic partnership with Samsung SDI to build a 3-gigawatt-hour-per-year battery plant in Morrisville, North Carolina, that will produce the Korean manufacturer's cells domestically for the first time.
"This is a landmark agreement unlike anything we've seen in the global battery industry today," said Paul Lichty, CEO of Forge Nano. "For the first time, a U.S. battery technology company will partner with a tier-1 battery manufacturer to produce their cells on American soil."
Forge Nano is investing $300 million to $330 million in the facility, subsidized by a $100 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Samsung SDI will assist in construction and operations to ensure high-throughput production, and has signed a conditional procurement agreement to purchase cells from the Gigafactory starting in 2028. Forge Nano will also distribute Samsung SDI cells in the U.S. as an authorized distributor.
The partnership marks a structural shift in how U.S. battery supply chains are being built. Rather than relying on Asian imports or licensing foreign technology, Forge Nano's model puts a Korean tier-1 manufacturer's production line on American soil, with the output destined for defense and critical infrastructure customers that require secure domestic sourcing. Samsung SDI is also accelerating development efforts to incorporate Forge Nano's Atomic Armor nano-scale coating technology into its future battery products.
The Deal Structure and What It Unlocks
Under the agreement, Samsung SDI provides manufacturing expertise and supply chain pricing to Forge Nano, effectively de-risking the scale-up of the Morrisville plant. Forge Nano will produce both Samsung SDI cell products and its own Atomic Armor cell products at the facility, which is expected to be fully operational by 2028. The arrangement covers non-consumer automotive applications, targeting defense, industrial, and critical infrastructure markets.
For Samsung SDI, the partnership offers a manufacturing foothold in the U.S. without the capital commitment of building its own factory. For Forge Nano, it provides a tier-1 partner to validate its production process and a guaranteed buyer for output — a structure CEO Lichty said "enables Forge Nano to mitigate scaling risk."
The SPAC Path and Investor Implications
Forge Nano is pursuing a public listing through a merger with Archimedes II, a SPAC that raised $230 million in its February 2025 IPO. The team's prior vehicle, Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners Co., successfully closed its merger with SoundHound AI Inc. in April 2022. The Forge Nano deal is expected to close pending SEC effectiveness and shareholder approval.
The partnership with Samsung SDI strengthens Forge Nano's commercial credibility ahead of that vote. For investors tracking the EV and battery supply chain, the deal represents a new model for domestic battery manufacturing — one that could be replicated as U.S. policy continues to favor onshoring of critical energy infrastructure. Forge Nano's Atomic Armor technology, originally developed for semiconductor atomic layer deposition in AI chip manufacturing, gives the company a differentiated coating capability that Samsung SDI is now exploring for its own battery products.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
