A battery company owned by Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has acquired an energy systems and service business owned by Sharp Electronics Corp.

NantEnergy, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., picked up the Energy System and Services Group from the Japan-based electronics giant for unknown terms.

Sharp’s Portland-based energy division has developed a SmartStorage system that links batteries and “behind-the-meter” software to reduce peak energy use for businesses. The acquisition will give NantEnergy a foothold in the U.S. energy storage market, especially in California, Soon-Shiong said.

“Adding Sharp’s sizable and world-class energy storage business to the NantEnergy service portfolio is an important step in our mission to accelerate the worldwide transformation to clean, reliable energy through intelligent energy storage solutions,” said Soon-Shiong, chairman of NantEnergy, in a statement.

The business also has an active pipeline of more than 60 megawatts of solar-plus- storage projects across the nation.

The 12-year-old NantEnergy, once known as Fluidic Energy Corp., manufactures rechargeable zinc-air batteries and is part of Soon-Shiong’s NantWorks conglomerate based in Culver City.

In September, the company announced it had deployed its zinc-air energy storage systems to battery system to more than 110 African and Asian villages, serving 200,000 residents who would otherwise have no access to power.

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.