Rinehart's mineral manoeuvres
Another day, another raid by Australia's richest person on the shares of a WA lithium play.
You didn’t have to be Nostradamus to predict more deals in the Australian lithium sector. Just last month Capital Brief ran a piece on this very topic, noting that the window for more M&A in the lithium sector on the ASX was wide open, and it might not stay that way for long. Prices of the commodity — a key ingredient for electric vehicle batteries — have been depressed due to slowed EV sales growth in China. But international companies along the EV supply chain are moving to shore up access to the critical mineral.
Among the companies mentioned in that story as possible targets was Azure Minerals. Today, Azure’s board accepted a $1.63 billion bid from Chilean lithium giant SQM.
The question is whether this lithium deal can actually get over the line. The last one — US chemicals giant Albemarle’s $6.6 billion swoop for Liontown Resources — was derailed by Australia’s richest individual, Gina Rinehart. Today, multiple media reports said Rinehart had already launched a raid on Azure’s stock. A spokesperson for her private company Hancock Prospecting declined to comment.
Hancock Prospecting’s strategy for Liontown may be to work with Mineral Resources to keep Liontown’s processing in Australia, rather than going offshore. MinRes has a joint venture with Albemarle to ship lithium from Port Hedland in the Pilbara, and MinRes has a port and rail agreement with Hancock to ship iron ore out of there too. Her intentions at Azure are less clear.
