If investors had been hoping to get a clearer picture of the fight over perennial takeover target Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) this week, they’ll have to wait.
In the latest update, North Carolina-based Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) — which is looking to buy the Western Australian lithium developer for $3 per share — says although its due diligence is substantially complete, it needs more time to complete the process.
“In response to this request, the Liontown board has determined to extend the exclusive due diligence period by 7 days, on the same terms as previously announced,” Liontown said in a statement.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Liontown Chairman and significant shareholder Tim Goyder stresses that it’s not unusual for parties to be granted due diligence extensions when evaluating transactions.
“The fact is, we’ve got that bid from Albemarle and they’ve asked for another week’s extension,” Goyder tells this news service.
In Liontown’s latest annual report, released 29 September, the mining magnate was listed as having a 14.97% shareholding in the company.
The extension follows an initial four-week due diligence period granted to suitor Albemarle on 11 September 2023 after it lobbed its current $3-per-share bid — which values Liontown at $6.6 billion — on 3 September. That offer remains the latest in a string of others going back almost a year, including a bid of $2.20 on 20 October 2022 and $2.35 per share on 3 March this year.
Both were rejected, along with a revised bid of $2.50 per share on 27 March which thrust negotiations into the public spotlight.
It was shortly thereafter, in early April, when Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart — sometimes known as the ‘Iron Lady’ for both her personality and the commodity that built her fortune — launched her own pursuit for Liontown.
Since then, Rinehart and her privately held Hancock Prospecting have forked out roughly $1.3 billion to acquire a stake in Liontown which now stands at 19.9%, surpassing mining magnate Goyder’s.
“Hancock now looks forward to having a prominent influence on Liontown’s future, as its largest shareholder,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Hancock now looks forward to having a prominent influence on Liontown’s future, as its largest shareholder“
Though Hancock’s stake came at a hefty sum, both the company and Rinehart have remained tight-lipped about how they plan to wield their influence.
On 6 October, Hancock said it welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Kathleen Valley Project as a shareholder and intends to help guide Liontown’s “overall future direction”.
“Hancock does not currently intend to put forward any director nominations at Liontown’s upcoming Annual General Meeting,” the company said at the time.
“However, Hancock remains open to nominating directors to Liontown’s board in the future and particularly if its strategic stake continues to increase towards 19.9%.”
Albemarle, on the other hand, views Liontown as a way of expanding both its resource base and its lithium-focused energy storage business.
“Should Albemarle make a binding proposal at $3 per share, the Liontown board intends to unanimously recommend that Liontown shareholders vote in favour of the revised proposal, in the absence of a superior proposal,” Albemarle said in September.
The transaction will also be dependent on Liontown and Albemarle executing a binding agreement, the completion of Albemarle’s due diligence, and the ruling by an independent expert that the deal is in the best interests of Liontown’s shareholders.
Write to Oliver Gray at Mining.com.au
Images: Liontown Resources
