Rio Tinto to Acquire Arcadium Lithium for $6.7 Billion

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) (London, England) has announced the acquisition of Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) for US$5.85 per share, amounting to a transaction of US$6.7 billion. The deal has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to be completed by mid-2025.

Rio Tinto will benefit from Arcadium's manufacturing and extraction lithium processes, such as hard-rock mining, brine extraction and direct lithium extraction.

Rio Tinto will absorb the lithium miner's production of 75,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent per year, as well as its Salar del Hombre Muerto, Olaroz, Cauchari and Sal de Vida lithium mines in Argentina and its spodumene concentrate assets in Australia and Canada.

Additionally, Arcadium owns lithium processing plants in China, the U.S., Japan, Canada and the U.K. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Plant Database can click here for a list of Arcadium plant profiles.

According to the company statement, Rio Tinto and Arcadium's combined assets amount to the world's largest lithium resource base.

Based on Arcadium's current assets, developments and resources, Rio Tinto could see a lithium output increase of roughly 130% by 2028.

Arcadium was created in January this year, through the merger of Allkem and Livent, both mining companies. However, with this acquisition, Rio Tinto, which is already a key copper, aluminum and iron ore producer, will become a leading player in the lithium market.

"Acquiring Arcadium Lithium is a significant step forward in Rio Tinto's long-term strategy, creating a world-class lithium business alongside our leading aluminum and copper operations to supply materials needed for the energy transition. Arcadium Lithium is an outstanding business today and we will bring our scale, development capabilities and financial strength to realize the full potential of its Tier 1 portfolio," said Jakob Stausholm, chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.

This acquisition takes place despite the collapse in lithium prices following weaker demand for electric vehicles. For more on that, see September 3, 2024, article - U.S. Automakers' Lithium Investments Face Headwinds.

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