Nissan Sells Smyrna Battery Plant

SMYRNA, TN — A Chinese investment firm reportedly paid nearly $1 billion to purchase Nissan's battery operations, which includes a Smyrna plant.

Nissan announced the sale of its battery unit Automotive Energy Supply Corporation to Chinese private equity firm GSR Capital Tuesday. The sale includes the Smyrna facility, another plant in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, and a portion of its battery development and production operation in Japan. Workers will remain on the job, Nissan said.

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Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, Bloomberg reported earlier that the deal approached $1 billion.

The Smyrna facility produces lithium-ion batteries for the Nissan Leaf. Neither Nissan's vehicle assembly plant in Smyrna or its powertrain production facility in Decherd are affected by the transaction.