- Prices for lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, are up more than 65 per cent year-to-date in China amid resurgent demand following a three-year downturn.
- The report added that the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021
As per a report by Reuters, Ganfeng Lithium Co Ltd said it would buy Argentina-focused Millennial Lithium Corp for about C$353 million ($280 million), extending a deal spree by one of the world’s biggest producers of the white metal. Prices for lithium, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, are up more than 65 per cent year-to-date in China amid resurgent demand following a three-year downturn.
The bid by Ganfeng unit GFL International at C$3.60 per share is a premium of 8.4 per cent to Vancouver-based Millennial’s closing price of C$3.32 on Thursday, the company said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Millennial recommended that shareholders support the offer, which it said had unanimous board approval and backing from its largest investor.
Close in the fourth quarter of 2021
The report added that the deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, provides “a very attractive opportunity for Millennial’s shareholders to realise full liquidity at a substantial premium to the current share price,” CEO Farhad Abasov said. Ganfeng has so far this year agreed to buy the shares it does not already own in Mexico-focused Bacanora Lithium for $264.5 million and stakes in a lithium mine in Mali and a salt lake in China for $130 million and 1.47 billion yuan ($227 million), respectively.
Millennial has two non-producing lithium brine projects – Pastos Grandes and Cauchari East – in northern Argentina close to Ganfeng’s existing operations in the country, which include a joint venture with Lithium Americas Corp
