Daily Management Review

Chile's SQM and Australia's Hancock to buy lithium producer Azure for $1.1B


12/19/2023


Australia's wealthiest woman, Gina Rinehart, owns Hancock Prospecting Pty., which is owned by the Chilean business Sociedad Quimica & Minera de Chile SA (SQM), and together they have made a formal offer to purchase Australian lithium producer Azure Minerals Ltd.



Chile's SQM and Australia's Hancock to buy lithium producer Azure for $1.1B
For the business, they made an offer of A$1.7 billion ($1.1 billion).

The firms released a joint statement stating that Azure's board of directors has already accepted the offer. The valuation represents 1.5 times the company's capitalization that existed prior to the October announcement of the potential acquisition.

In the past, Reinhart increased his ownership of Liontown Resources Ltd., a different lithium mining company, to around 20%.

Due to a slowdown in China's electric vehicle market and strong greenfield growth, lithium prices are currently at their lowest points since 2021. One of the main ingredients in batteries for electric cars is lithium.

source: bloomberg.com