Rinehart buys more Liontown as Albemarle deadline nears
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has increased her potential blocking stake in takeover target Liontown Resources, declaring herself to be the lithium developer’s biggest shareholder on the eve of an important update about a $6.6 billion takeover offer.
US company Albemarle was due to complete four weeks of due diligence on Liontown on Friday, meaning it will likely clarify within days whether it will push ahead with its preliminary proposal to pay $3 for each Liontown share.
Gina Rinehart was shopping for Liontown shares again on Friday. Trevor Collens
Liontown shares traded around $2.96 in recent days, but suddenly rallied to $3 around midday on Friday.
Mrs Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting issued a statement after the close of trading on Friday to declare it had bought more shares and taken its Liontown stake to 16.7 per cent.
That has pushed Mrs Rinehart above Liontown chairman Tim Goyder, who has been the company’s biggest shareholder for years with a stake that currently stands at 15 per cent.
“Hancock is now Liontown’s largest shareholder. Hancock welcomes the opportunity to participate in the Kathleen Valley project as a shareholder, and have an influence on the company’s overall future direction – including where decisions are to be made by shareholders,” Hancock said in a statement.
Shareholders will likely get a chance to vote on Albemarle’s offer, with a scheme of arrangement expected to require support from 75 per cent of votes cast.
Some shareholders choose not to vote in such situations, meaning that a stake of 16.7 per cent would be very close to a blocking stake in its own right, and could block the deal with minimal support from other shareholders.
Friday’s statement suggested that
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