AgFin Australia

$14.3 billion Allkem and Livent merger approved

The $14.3 billion merger between Allkem (ASX:AKE) and Livent has been successfully concluded.

Livent shareholders voted in favor of the deal on Tuesday in the US. This decision followed Allkem’s announcement that 72% of its shareholders voted (89% in favor) to merge with Livent on the same day.

Livent reported an overwhelming majority of its shareholders in favor of the merger overnight on Tuesday.

The second court hearing regarding the scheme of arrangement took place on Wednesday, and the deal is set to close on January 4, with the newly merged company commencing operations.

Paul Graves, President and CEO of Livent and the future CEO of the merged company, expressed his satisfaction: “The strong support of Livent and Allkem shareholders for this transformational merger is a testament to the compelling value proposition of Arcadium Lithium. We look forward to closing the merger and pursuing opportunities to create greater long-term, sustainable value for all of our stakeholders.”

The merged entity will be named Arcadium Lithium, with ownership divided as 56% for Allkem shareholders and 44% for Livent shareholders.

Allkem possesses the Mt. Mattlin hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia, a lithium spodumene project in Canada’s prospective James Bay region, and three lithium brine assets in Argentina, including the flagship Olaroz project, jointly owned with Toyota Tsusho Corporation. Allkem also holds a 75% stake in the Naraha lithium hydroxide conversion plant in Japan, set to process over 9,000 tonnes per annum of lithium carbonate feedstock from Olaroz.

Similarly, Livent has lithium projects in Argentina and Canada and is in the process of developing a lithium hydroxide processing plant in Canada.

Arcadium Lithium aims to achieve a production capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2027.