Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd., a privately-held mining company owned by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, has offered to buy Australian nickel and gold explorer Mincor Resources NL.
The A$1.40 per share offer is a 35% premium on the previous closing price and values the company at A$760 million ($510 million) on a fully diluted basis, the company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Mincor is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Under the offer, Mincor shareholders can also sell their shares to Wyloo directly on-market without conditions rather than wait for board approval of the deal, the company said.
“Wyloo is providing an immediate opportunity for all Mincor shareholders who wish to dispose of their holdings to do so at a significant premium to Mincor’s last closing price,” Wyloo Metals chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi said in the statement.
Forrest is the founder and chairman of Fortescue Metals Group, the world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner. Wyloo, which already owns a nearly 20% stake in Mincor, is wholly owned by his family office Tattarang.
Nickel is a key metal in lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, and demand is set increase four times by 2050, according to BHP Group Ltd. Wyloo said the deal would give it exposure to the clean energy transition.
(By James Fernyhough)
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