Australian Lithium Miner to Go Public with Merger
- October 25, 2022
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Mining
A unit of Australian miner European Lithium has agreed to go public on Nasdaq via a merger with blank-check company Ltd. has agreed to go public on Nasdaq through a merger with special purpose acquisition company Sizzle. With the merger, the combined business, Critical Metals Corp, will have a market value of around $972 million. It will take ownership of European Lithium’s project in Austria, which could be the first licensed lithium mine in Europe.
European Lithium announced a deal in August with German automotive giant BMW to supply battery grade lithium hydroxide. It hopes to add more customers in the region, including electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and battery makers.
“The project is poised to become the first major source of battery-grade lithium concentrate in Europe, the world’s leading EV market, capable of supporting the production of approximately 200,000 EVs per year,” Critical Metals Executive Chairman Sage said in a statement. “We believe we will be able to achieve our commercial goals by 2025.”
Lithium demand is projected to triple in mid-decade from last year’s level. Western nations have been scrambling to create alternative supply chains for critical materials like lithium and rare-earths, the processing of which is dominated by China.
European Lithium said it expects its Austria mine to supply approximately 10,500 metric tons of lithium concentrate annually by 2025.
Sizzle, a special purpose acquisition company, raised $155 million in a November 2021 initial public offering. As its biggest shareholder, European Lithium plans to nominate four of the five board members of the combined business. The deal could be completed in the first half of 2023.
Australian-listed Security Matters Ltd. struck a deal with a U.S. special purpose acquisition company in July, in part to obtain a Nasdaq listing.
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