Rinehart wins say in Liontown’s future in $6.6b takeover twist
Gina Rinehart has not ruled out launching a bid to rival Albemarle’s $6.6 billion takeover tilt at Liontown Resources after confirming she now holds a strategic stake in the West Australian lithium prize.
Mrs Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting revealed late on Monday that it has a 7.72 per cent stake in Liontown, and intends to have a say in the future of one of the world’s biggest lithium projects.
The private company controlled by Australia’s richest person indicated it may seek a seat on the Liontown board and provide mining firepower to Liontown’s flagship Kathleen Valley lithium project.
Tony Ottaviano, CEO of Liontown, at the Kathleen Valley mine site. Evan Collis
Mrs Rinehart also signalled her interest in moving downstream in lithium, and a willingness to work with other Liontown investors – chiefly Albemarle – on that front.
Hancock’s disclosure came hours after Liontown announced it allowed New York-listed Albemarle into its data room to undertake exclusive due diligence for four weeks.
West Perth-headquartered Hancock said there were still risks associated with bringing Kathleen Valley into production.
“The (Kathleen Valley) project is a prospective high quality hard-rock lithium deposit in its development phase, which whilst still having a number of significant risks including resource conversion, construction execution and metallurgical recovery, has the potential to operate at scale,” Hancock said.
“This shareholding provides Hancock with a strategic stake in Liontown, giving Liontown the opportunity to leverage Hancock’s expertise where it is of value to support the project’s development and subsequent operations.
“Hancock can contribute to Liontown’s future direction alongside other Liontown shareholders,
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