- This agreement eases the immediate financial pressure on Tianqi
- It was unable to repay almost $1.9 billion in debt last month after a out plunge in lithium prices but has since secured investment in its Australian operations from IGO Ltd
As per a report by Reuters, China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp has struck an agreement to extend the maturity dates on more than $3 billion in loans as per the company. The report added that this agreement eases the immediate financial pressure on Tianqi.
The report added that it was unable to repay almost $1.9 billion in debt last month after a out plunge in lithium prices but has since secured investment in its Australian operations from IGO Ltd. The report said that the repayment deadline on two loan tranches totalling $1.884 billion, which were used to fund an acquisition in 2018, will be extended by one year to 26th November, 2021,Tianqi said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing. The agreement is pending approval by shareholders at a 5th January meeting.
Tianqi repays at least $1.2 billion of the loan principal
The report said that Tianqi said that if the IGO investment is completed and Tianqi repays at least $1.2 billion of the loan principal, the deadline can be extended by one more year to November 2022. It added that interest payments on these tranches would be made every six months instead of every three months previously. The maturity date on a further $1.2 billion tranche originally due Nov. 29, 2022, will also be pushed back by a year. It has a possibility of a further extension to November 2024 added the report.
The report said that Tianqi said in a separate filing that its controlling shareholder, Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group, had cut its stake to 30.05 per cent after completing the gradual sale of 6 per cent of its holding first announced in May.
