Williams Advanced Engineering sold for £164m

Australian mining firm acquires WAE as it seeks to decarbonise ahead of 2030

By John Howell / Monday, 24 January 2022 / Loading comments

Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) is in the process of being sold to Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) for £164 million. FMG is an Australian-based iron ore mining firm, which might not sound like an obvious buyer for the technology-led engineering firm, started by the late Sir Frank Williams, but it makes sense once you understand the details. As we know, one of the advantages of battery-electric vehicles is masses of instant torque. That should make them ideal for heavy industry, except that BEVs don't respond well to high-intensity demand. When you ask a lot of from a motor, it's very difficult to keep the battery temperature stable and, when the temperature goes up, the efficiency goes down.

That's why companies like the FMG, which extracts more than 180-million tonnes of iron ore each year, is currently still heavily reliant on fossil fuels. These power its three-kilometre-long freight trains, 400-tonne haulage trucks and large shipping vessels used in the transport of its raw material, as well as the multitude of heavy industrial equipment used to extract it. It's also why the heavy industrial sector accounts for more than 20 per cent of global carbon emissions.

FMG is aiming to change all that. It's set itself the hugely ambitious target of becoming carbon zero by 2030, while at the same time becoming a major player in the global market for green industrial transport equipment. Its offshoot - Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) - is tasked with spearheading its wider quest for a carbon-free heavy industrial sector.

Purchasing Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) - the firm that FMG had already tasked with designing and building a battery system to power an electric mining haul truck - means it is acquiring a forward-thinking technology and engineering business, one already well established in the field of electrification. The deal is said to bring together that expertise with FFI's experience with green electricity, green hydrogen and ammonia concepts.

Fortescue Founder and Chairman, Dr Andrew Forrest AO said, "This is the race of our lifetimes - the race to save the planet from cooking. The speed at which we move matters. Together FFI and WAE will work to decarbonise Fortescue - with the aim of achieving that faster and more effectively than anyone else in the world. This is an historic moment in the future of our company as we welcome the WAE family into the Fortescue family".

Commenting on the announcement, Claire Williams OBE - Sir Frank's daughter and the former deputy team principal of the Williams F1 Racing Team - noted: "Since the team sold a majority shareholding in WAE to EMK Capital a couple of years ago, EMK and the Management Team have done a fantastic job in taking the business forward. We are delighted that Fortescue are now taking over that mantle and see the value in the company and its people in tackling some of the biggest issues facing our world today. I am sure that they will continue to drive considerable success through the business and achieve further results in decarbonising heavy industry and tackling the issue of global warming."