Posted on 06 Mar 2023
Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has sold 60.97 million ordinary shares in Pilbara Minerals for AUD 250m ($168.7m), the Australian spodumene concentrate company said Friday.
The substantial holder ceasing notice filed by Pilbara shows the divestment was done via CATL Hong Kong, affecting over 100 of its subsidiaries. The battery giant invested AUD 55m in roughly 183.33m shares in Pilbara in September 2019, and in December 2020 it held around 7% of Pilbara, Kallanish notes.
According to reports, CATL has completely exited Pilbara with the selling of 146m shares in a late block trade underwritten by Goldman Sachs and UBS. It’s said to have raised a total of AUD 856m in both transactions this week.
The move shouldn’t impact CATL’s access to Pilbara’s lithium products, which should be done through subsidiary Yibin Tianyi. The latter signed a five-year offtake agreement with Pilbara in 2020.
The divestment could suggest CATL’s expectation that lithium and derivatives prices will continue to fall, making it a good timing for the manufacturer to yield profitability on its original investment.
Chinese lithium miner Ganfeng International Lithium owns a 5.76% stake in Pilbara.
Source:Kallanish
