ASX-listed lithium developer Liontown Resources has played down media speculation of a takeover proposal superior to Albemarle’s failed bid for the company in March.
ASX-listed lithium developer Liontown Resources has played down media speculation of a takeover proposal superior to Albemarle’s failed bid for the company in March.
East coast media outlets yesterday reported a mystery bidder had topped US-headquartered battery metal behemoth Albemarle’s non-binding $2.50 per share bid for Liontown, which is developing the flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project north of Kalgoorlie to first production mid-2024.
It was suggested that the mystery bid would be in the vicinity of $2.75 per share, a premium to Albemarle’s $2.50 offer, with several speculative suitors listed.
However, Liontown issued a brief statement this morning clarifying that no further takeover proposal had been received since it rejected Albemarle’s approach on March 28.
Its shares were up more than 2 per cent today after emerging from a trading pause, and currently sit around the $2.75 mark.
The company also issued an investor presentation ahead of a timely appearance at the 2023 Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney today.
March’s revelation of Albemarle’s interest in Liontown put a rocket under the company’s share price – which soared 68.5 per cent on the day it was announced and has climbed further since.
As a result of the movement, Liontown’s market capitalisation currently sits above $6 billion.
Chaired by 15 per cent shareholder Tim Goyder, Liontown’s core asset is Kathleen Valley, which the company bills in today’s presentation as the “largest and highest quality hard rock lithium resource in Australia that is not already partly or wholly owned by an existing major global lithium player”.
Construction is underway at Kathleen Valley, which has a measured, indicated and inferred JORC resource of 156 million tonnes at 1.4 per cent lithium oxide and 130 parts per million tantalum pentoxide.
Liontown also holds the nearby Buldania deposit, which has a resource measuring 15 million tonnes at 1 per cent lithium oxide in an emerging lithium district.
As of March 30, Albemarle holds a 4.3% relevant interest in Liontown shares. The US company already has a major stake in the WA market, as a 49 per cent owner at the Greenbushes mine near Bridgetown and the 80 per cent owner of the Kemerton lithium refinery currently under construction.
It also holds a 50 per cent stake in the Wodgina mine as part of a joint venture with Mineral Resources.
Greenbushes and Wodgina sit first and third respectively in terms of Australian hard rock lithium resources by size, according to Liontown’s Macquarie presentation slides. Kathleen Valley sits fifth.
Liontown shares were trading up 1.8 per cent this morning, at $2.76.
