Albemarle will move forward with its Liontown acquisition after submitting a best and final proposal of $6.6 billion.
The news comes less than a week after it was reported that the deal was still on the table, despite no conversation happening between the two minors in five months.
According to Albemarle, the proposal is subject to several conditions, including:
- completion of due diligence by Albemarle
- entry into a binding scheme implementation deed subject to closing conditions and shareholder approval
- final Albemarle board approval.
In acquiring Liontown, Albemarle is hoping to enhance the scale of its energy storage business, expand its presence in Australia and increase the opportunity to meet a rapidly growing lithium demand.
Liontown intends to grant Albemarle an opportunities to conduct a period of due diligence before it puts forward a binding offer. Should Albemarle make a binding proposal at $3.00 per share, the Liontown board intends to unanimously recommend that Liontown shareholders vote in favor of the proposal.
Liontown has previously rejected offers of $2.20 per share on October 20 2022, $2.35 per share on March 3 2023, and $2.50 per share on March 27 2023.
“The Liontown board and its advisers carefully considered the indicative proposal and unanimously determined that it substantially undervalues Liontown, and therefore is not in the best interests of shareholders,” the company said at the time of its rejection.
The current revised proposal is non-binding and there is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed to or will proceed.
