Liontown Resources plummets after Albermarle drops bid
Albemarle on Monday withdrew its A$3-a-share offer, citing "growing complexities" after the Gina Rinehart-controlled Hancock Prospecting increased its Liontown stake to 19.9%.
Shares of Liontown Resources plunged by one-third on Friday after US-based miner Albemarle abandoned a A$6.6-billion buyout bid for the Australian lithium developer.
Albemarle on Monday withdrew its A$3-a-share offer, citing "growing complexities" after Hancock Prospecting, an iron ore miner controlled by Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, raised its Liontown stake to 19.9%.
Liontown shares sank more than 34% to a seven-month low of A$1.820 on Friday, their worst fall in nearly nine years, before recovering modestly. They had last traded at A$2.79 on October 13 before the Albermarle announcement, and had been halted since.
After Albermarle dropped its bid, Liontown said it would raise up to A$1.2-billion ($760-million) in debt and equity to fund its flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project.
"We are yet to know what Gina Rinehart's position has been on the capital raise and where the share price goes from here is what matters." said Henry Jennings, senior market analyst at Marcus Today.
Liontown said on Thursday it would raise A$760-million in debt from a banking syndicate and government credit agencies, and A$376-million in equity at A$1.80 a share, a 55% discount to the previous close. Chairman Timothy Goyder will contribute A$10.8-million, the company said.
The company last year secured a debt facility of A$300-million from a unit of Ford to further develop the Kathleen Valley project for the key battery mineral.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
The SAIMM started as a learned society in 1894 after the invention of the cyanide process that saved the South African gold mining industry of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
M and J Mining are leading suppliers of physical support systems as used by the underground mining industry. Our selection of products are not...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
