Lithium Power International (ASX: LPI) has scrapped the demerger of its Western Australian lithium assets in favour of a $21 million (A$30m) sale of the three projects to US giant Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB).
The cash transaction would see Albemarle acquire full ownership of Greenbushes, Pilgangoora and Tabba Tabba projects, which Lithium Power was attempting to spin off into a separate company — Western Lithium — that would have listed on the ASX.
“Despite the significant progress we had made towards an IPO of Western Lithium in the past months, this asset realization will provide a significant uplift to the pre-money valuation of our Western Australia asset portfolio,” chief executive Cristóbal García-Huidobro said in the statement.
The Australian miner will focus on the development of its flagship Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile, after the deal closes, which is expected to happened early July.
For the rest of this article: https://www.mining.com/albemarle-to-buy-lithium-powers-australian-unit/