© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A sign at the approach road leads to Albemarle’s lithium evaporation ponds at its facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, U.S., January 9, 2019. Picture taken January 9, 2019. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo
By Scott Murdoch and Poonam Behura
(Reuters) – Shares of Australia’s Liontown Resources shot up 11.5% after the lithium developer’s board backed on Monday a refreshed A$6.6-billion ($4.3-billion) bid from Albemarle (NYSE:) Corp, the world’s biggest producer of the battery material.
Emerging Australian lithium companies are experiencing a surge in buyouts as their lower valuations and cash needs lure some of the world’s top producers of lithium and others racing to secure supplies.
The new cash offer of A$3 a share represents a premium of 14.5% to Liontown’s last close of A$2.62 on Sept. 1 and is 20% higher than Albemarle’s offer of A$2.50 a share made in late March that the target had rejected as too low.
“The waiting game looks to have paid off,” Citigroup (NYSE:) analysts said.
“We see the offer as bullish for lithium, signalling that the largest producer is keen to secure more supply at a premium, or has a bullish view on long-term price with low jurisdictional risk.”
The offer was Albemarle’s fourth, after it proposed A$2.20 a share on Oct. 20 last year and A$2.35 in March, before the rejected offer of A$2.50 was made public.
Monday’s news drove Liontown shares to their highest since July 14, to stand at A$2.92.
Liontown said its board intended to unanimously recommend shareholders vote for the new offer in the absence of a superior proposal, and after completion of an independent expert’s report to examine the deal.
Albemarle has been granted a limited period of exclusive due diligence as well as to enter into a mutually acceptable scheme implementation deed, Liontown said in a statement.
Lithium is in hot demand for electric vehicle batteries, and projects in top supplier Australia have become more attractive than those in other major producer Chile, which detailed in April a plan to nationalise its industry.
Liontown controls two major lithium deposits in Western Australia, with first production set for mid-2024 from its flagship Kathleen Valley project, which is among the world’s largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium deposits.
Liontown also has supply deals with Ford Motor (NYSE:), Tesla (NASDAQ:) and the battery unit of South Korea’s LG Chem.
Liontown said Greenhill (NYSE:) & Co and UBS would act as financial advisers and Allens as its legal adviser for the revised proposal. JPMorgan and Barrenjoey are advising Albemarle.
($1=1.5504 Australian dollars)
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