Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. is a critical player in the battery resource recovery space, but can its innovative Spoke & Hub Technologies truly close the loop on the massive demand for critical materials as the North American and European recycling market is estimated to reach 482 thousand tonnes of lithium-ion battery equivalent by 2025? After posting $28.0 million in total revenue for the 2024 fiscal year, the company's real leverage comes from its strategic positioning and a massive $475 million loan facility from the U.S. Department of Energy. That DOE backing is defintely a game-changer, underwriting a future where the Rochester Hub alone is projected to produce up to 8,250 tonnes of lithium carbonate and 72,000 tonnes of mixed hydroxide precipitate annually. Do you understand how this two-stage process works and what the economics of recovering materials like nickel and cobalt mean for your portfolio?

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) History

You're looking for the definitive story of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., and it's a journey that perfectly maps the boom and bust of the clean energy investment cycle. The company started with a simple, brilliant idea for a closed-loop battery supply chain, but its path to commercialization was anything but simple, culminating in a major corporate restructuring in 2025.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Founding Timeline

Li-Cycle was born from a clear need: efficiently and safely recycling the massive wave of lithium-ion batteries coming from electric vehicles and consumer electronics. Co-founders Ajay Kochhar and Tim Johnston, both engineers with backgrounds in the minerals and mining sector, saw the problem and designed a two-stage solution-the 'Spoke & Hub' model.

Year established

The company was established in 2016.

Original location

It was originally located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, before establishing its headquarters in Toronto.

Founding team members

The founding team members are Ajay Kochhar, who served as President and CEO, and Tim Johnston, who served as Co-Founder and Executive Chairman.

Initial capital/funding

Early support came from the RIC Centre and angel investors, but the company's major growth capital came from its public listing. Total funding raised over time reached approximately $1.33 billion by mid-2025.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Evolution Milestones

The company's growth was rapid, driven by its proprietary technology, but the massive capital expenditure for its flagship Hub facility proved to be a critical challenge. Here's the quick math on their journey.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Transformative Moments

The company's history is defined by two major pivots: the 2021 public listing and the 2025 restructuring. The SPAC merger in 2021 was a massive injection of capital and market visibility, but it also ramped up expectations for the Rochester Hub, which ultimately became the company's financial anchor.

The most defintely transformative moment was the corporate restructuring and sale of key assets to Glencore in August 2025. This move fundamentally changed the company's ownership structure and financial viability, shifting it from an independent public entity to a subsidiary of a global commodities giant.

• The SPAC Merger (2021): Moving from a venture-backed startup to a publicly traded company provided a $580 million capital infusion, accelerating the 'Spoke & Hub' expansion plan globally.
• The Rochester Hub Cost Overrun (2023): The estimated cost for the Rochester Hub ballooned to $960 million, forcing a temporary halt to construction and a strategic review, signaling significant operational risk.
• The Glencore Acquisition (2025): The sale of the Spoke network and the Rochester Hub project to Glencore Canada Corporation via a credit bid concluded the restructuring process. This secured the future of the recycling assets but ended Li-Cycle's run as an independent, publicly-listed company.

For a deeper dive into the strategic rationale behind these developments, you should review the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY).

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) Ownership Structure

The ownership structure of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. has undergone a fundamental shift in 2025, moving from a publicly traded entity to a subsidiary controlled by Glencore Canada Corporation. This change, finalized with the acquisition of assets in August 2025, means Glencore now holds the majority stake and effective governance control, steering the company through its restructuring and operational optimization.

Given Company's Current Status

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. is no longer a standalone public company; it is now a subsidiary of Glencore Canada Corporation, a major global commodity trading and mining firm. The shift followed a period of financial distress and a bankruptcy process, culminating in Glencore completing the acquisition of Li-Cycle's assets in August 2025 for approximately $40 million. Before the acquisition, the company's stock was delisted from the NYSE and began trading on the OTCQX Best Market under the ticker LICYF (or LICYQ). This transaction effectively solidified Glencore's control, moving Li-Cycle from a widely-held public structure to a more concentrated, corporate-controlled one, which is defintely a major pivot.

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

The company's ownership is now highly concentrated, reflecting Glencore's strategic financial support and eventual acquisition of assets. Prior to the full asset acquisition, Glencore had already built a substantial stake through debt and equity agreements, holding approximately 66.70% of the company's traded stock as of March 2025. With the total shares outstanding at approximately 44.54 million as of November 2025, the remaining ownership is split between institutional investors and the general public (retail investors).

Given Company's Leadership

The leadership team as of November 2025 is focused on restructuring and managing the transition under Glencore's ownership, following significant changes in May 2025. The company's co-founder, Ajay Kochhar, stepped down as President and CEO on May 15, 2025, transitioning to a senior advisory role to support the sales process.

The current leadership is centered on corporate restructuring and financial management:

• Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO): William Aziz. Appointed in May 2025, his role is critical for navigating the company's financial and operational restructuring.
• Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Michelle Faysal. She replaced Craig Cunningham in May 2025, bringing extensive experience to stabilize the company's finances.
• Chief Operating Officer (COO): Conor Spollen. He remains responsible for the global 'Spoke' operations.
• Chief Commercial Officer (CCO): Dawei Li. He leads the global commercial function and partnership development.

The board of directors is led by an independent Chair, Jacqui Dedo, who oversees the strategic direction, but the operational and financial control is now heavily influenced by Glencore. If you want to dive deeper into the company's guiding principles, check out Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY).

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) Mission and Values

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s core purpose extends beyond generating revenue from recycling; it centers on establishing a circular economy for lithium-ion batteries to support the global shift to clean energy. This mission is the cultural anchor that guides their technology development and strategic decisions, even amid the significant financial restructuring and the August 2025 acquisition by Glencore Canada Corp.

Honestly, understanding this mission is critical because it explains why they secured a $475 million loan facility from the U.S. Department of Energy, aligning with the government's priority to onshore critical mineral production.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Core Purpose

The company's purpose is to solve a massive, looming supply chain risk: what do we do with millions of end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries? Their answer is a closed-loop system that keeps critical metals in the domestic supply chain.

Official mission statement

The mission statement is precise and action-oriented, focusing on resource recovery and supply chain security for the future.

• Recover critical battery-grade materials to create a domestic closed-loop battery supply chain for a clean energy future.

This mission drives their proprietary Spoke & Hub Technologies™ (a two-stage process for pre-processing batteries into 'black mass' and then refining it into battery-grade chemicals), which is the foundation of their business model.

Vision statement

Their vision is about leadership and long-term impact, positioning them as an enabler of environmental sustainability.

• Be the leading lithium-ion battery recycler, enabling a sustainable future through innovative technology and responsible resource management.

To be fair, this vision is a massive undertaking, especially considering the Rochester Hub facility still needed an estimated $487 million to be completed as of August 2025. Still, their commitment to resource efficiency is clear: they report a 95% recovery rate of critical materials like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. slogan/tagline

While Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. doesn't use a single, widely published slogan, their communications consistently emphasize their core principles, which function as an internal tagline.

• Closing the loop for lithium-ion batteries.
• Innovation, sustainability, and safety.

You can defintely see the mission in their 2024 financial results, where the focus on their Spoke operations helped drive total revenue up to $28.0 million, a 53% increase over 2023, showing that the core recycling service is gaining traction. Learn more about the company's goals and values: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY).

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) How It Works

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., now operating as Glencore Battery Recycling following its acquisition in August 2025, uses a proprietary two-step 'Spoke & Hub' process to recycle lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing scrap, aiming for an up to 95% recovery rate of valuable materials. This process separates the initial mechanical reduction from the final chemical refinement, creating a highly efficient, closed-loop supply chain for critical battery metals.

Given Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Given Company's Operational Framework

The company's model is built on a decentralized 'Spoke' network feeding a centralized 'Hub' facility, which keeps logistics costs low and allows for flexible capacity expansion. The total installed processing capacity across Li-Cycle's Spoke network was approximately 81,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery material per year before the May 2025 operational suspensions at the Arizona and Alabama Spokes. Honestly, that modular design is a smart way to scale quickly.

• Spoke Operations: These facilities use a mechanical safe size reduction process, including Generation 3 technology that can process full EV battery packs without manual dismantling or discharging. The submerged shredding process is energy-efficient and results in no solid waste or wastewater discharge.
• Intermediate Product: The main output from the Spokes is 'black mass,' which contains the critical battery metals. For instance, approximately 40% of the company's global feedstock in the second quarter of 2024 was comprised of EV battery packs, demonstrating a shift toward higher-volume, end-of-life material.
• Hub Operations: The Hubs use a hydrometallurgical (wet chemistry) process to refine the black mass into battery-grade materials. Construction on the flagship Rochester Hub was paused in late 2023 due to budget overruns, but the asset and technology were acquired by Glencore, which is now reviewing the project's go-forward strategy.

For a deeper dive into the market perception and major stakeholders, you should check out Exploring Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Given Company's Strategic Advantages

The most significant strategic advantage is the integration with Glencore, a global mining and commodity powerhouse, as of August 2025. This move immediately solves Li-Cycle's long-standing financial and scaling challenges, providing a direct, stable channel for its black mass product and the capital needed to potentially complete the Hub strategy.

• Proprietary Technology: The patented Spoke & Hub process is battery chemistry-agnostic, meaning it can handle all lithium-ion battery types, and it achieves a high recovery rate of up to 95% of materials, which is a key differentiator from traditional pyrometallurgy (high-heat smelting).
• Environmental Footprint: The hydrometallurgical process is inherently more sustainable, producing minimal solid waste streams and zero wastewater discharge, which is a major competitive edge for securing contracts with sustainability-focused EV and battery manufacturers.
• Glencore Synergy: The acquisition provides immediate vertical integration into Glencore's global supply chain and refining expertise, securing both feedstock (supply) and offtake agreements (demand) for the recovered critical minerals. This is defintely a game-changer for market access.
• Established Commercial Footprint: Despite financial troubles, the company secured a total revenue of $28.0 million in fiscal year 2024, driven by recycling service revenue and product sales, and established relationships with major global EV OEMs and battery cell producers.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) How It Makes Money

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. generates revenue primarily by selling the critical battery materials it recovers from spent lithium-ion batteries and, secondarily, by charging a fee for its recycling services to battery manufacturers and electric vehicle (EV) companies.

The company's two-step Spoke & Hub Technologies™ process is the core financial engine: Spokes shred the batteries to create a material called black mass, which is sold or processed further at a Hub to extract high-purity, battery-grade materials like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Revenue Breakdown

Based on the latest available full fiscal year data (FY 2024, ended December 31, 2024), Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s total revenue reached $28.0 million, a 53% increase over the prior year. The revenue mix shows a significant and growing contribution from the recycling service side, which is a key strategic focus for the company.

Business Economics

The economics of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s business are a blend of commodity price exposure and a service-based model, which is a smart way to manage risk. The company's Spoke facilities, which produce the intermediate product, black mass, are operational and represent the primary source of current revenue, both through the sale of the black mass itself and the recycling service fees charged to customers for processing their battery waste. Recycling service revenue more than doubled to $11.9 million in 2024, driven by new contracts.

The ultimate goal is to generate high-margin revenue from the Hubs, which produce purified, battery-grade materials. The Rochester Hub, however, had its construction paused in 2024, causing a shift in capital expenditure, which declined to $23.9 million in 2024 from $334.9 million in 2023. This pause is the biggest near-term risk to the company's long-term economic model, which relies on the higher-value Hub output.

Here's the quick math on their pricing: The revenue from product sales is directly linked to the fluctuating prices of critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium, often using a 'payables' model where the final price is a percentage of the underlying commodity market price. The $475-million loan facility from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is a critical piece of the capital structure, helping to fund the Rochester Hub project, which is essential for the full-cycle economics.

• Commodity Linkage: Product revenue is highly sensitive to metal prices, which can create volatility; a favorable mix of constituent metals and higher metal prices helped Q3 2024 revenue.
• Off-take Agreements: Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. has secured a 100% off-take agreement with Glencore Ltd. for the mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) production from the Rochester Hub, which provides guaranteed demand for the future high-value product.
• Cost Structure: Selling, General & Administrative (SG&A) expenses were lowered by 50% to $12.9 million in Q3 2024 due to restructuring and cash preservation efforts, a necessary step to manage cash burn.

For a deeper look at the long-term strategy, you should review the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY).

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp.'s Financial Performance

As of November 2025, the company's financial performance reflects a business in a capital-intensive ramp-up phase, complicated by a strategic restructuring and a major transaction. The full-year 2024 results show the challenge: a net loss of approximately $137.7 million. Still, the Q3 2024 results showed a net profit of $56.5 million, largely due to a non-cash increase in other income from favorable fair value adjustments on financial instruments, not core operations.

The company is currently operating under significant financial pressure, having filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and initiated restructuring under CCAA and Chapter 15 in May 2025. The acquisition of a majority stake by Glencore Canada Corporation in August 2025 is the single most important financial event of the year, providing a potential lifeline and strategic direction.

• Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents stood at only $22.6 million as of December 31, 2024, highlighting the urgent need for external financing and the rationale behind the Glencore deal.
• Adjusted EBITDA: The Adjusted EBITDA loss improved to $90.5 million in 2024, compared to a loss of $156.4 million in 2023, showing some progress in operational efficiency despite the net loss.
• Production Volume: Black mass sold increased significantly in Q3 2024, with almost 2,000 tons sold in the quarter versus 892 tons in the same period in 2023, a clear sign of increasing operational output from the Spoke network.

The company is defintely in a transition period, moving from a high-growth, high-burn model to one stabilized by a major strategic partner, Glencore, which is now critical to its survival and the restart of the Rochester Hub.

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY) Market Position & Future Outlook

Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. is no longer a standalone, publicly-traded entity; it was acquired by Glencore on August 8, 2025, after facing significant financial distress and filing for creditor protection in May 2025. This acquisition fundamentally shifts the company's outlook from a capital-constrained startup to a vertically integrated component of a global mining and commodity giant, now operating as Glencore Battery Recycling (GBR). The immediate future is focused on leveraging Glencore's financial stability to restart and complete the flagship Rochester Hub project.

The company's prior financial position was precarious, reporting an adjusted EBITDA loss of US$90.5 million in 2024, and its key growth project, the Rochester Hub, had stalled due to costs that had nearly doubled from the initial $485 million estimate. The path forward is now clearer, but it means trading entrepreneurial independence for the disciplined execution and deep pockets of a major corporation. Glencore's backing is the defintely the new game-changer.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape has been redrawn by the Glencore acquisition. Li-Cycle's core competitive advantage-its proprietary Spoke & Hub Technologies-is now backed by Glencore's global infrastructure and financial power, creating a formidable, vertically-integrated player. While specific 2025 market share data is proprietary, the relative standing is based on processing capacity and established market presence.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's strategic initiatives are now fully aligned with Glencore's global strategy, which centers on securing a sustainable supply of critical battery materials. The core opportunity lies in finally monetizing the Rochester Hub, which is designed to process black mass into high-purity materials like lithium carbonate and nickel sulfate.

Industry Position

The Glencore acquisition immediately positions Li-Cycle's assets as a major force in the North American and European battery recycling market. It moves from being a financially distressed technology leader to the recycling arm of a resource powerhouse. This is a game changer for scale and credibility.

• Technology Validation: The Spoke & Hub model, which boasts up to a 95% material recovery rate, is now validated by Glencore's investment, securing its place as a leading hydrometallurgical solution.
• Financial De-Risking: The most immediate benefit is the elimination of the 'going concern' risk that plagued the company in early 2025, allowing for a renewed focus on operations and project completion.
• Vertical Integration: The company's assets now create a closed-loop system for Glencore, linking raw material mining, trading, and now, recycling and refining, which is critical for meeting future battery material demand.
• Global Footprint: With four operational Spokes in North America and one in Germany, plus the strategic Rochester Hub, the network is poised to capture a significant portion of the projected 50,000-75,000 tonnes of end-of-life batteries expected globally in 2025.

For a deeper dive into the company's foundational principles, you can review its Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (LICY).