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Chile: Lithium merger cleared to proceed

By  |  October 28, 2018

Chile’s constitutional court gave the green light on Thursday, October 25, to Chinese group Tianqi’s proposed acquisition of a 24% stake in Chile’s lithium producer SQM for US$4.1 billion.

The court rejected an appeal to halt the sale by SQM’s controlling shareholder, the Pampa Group, which argued that such a deal would break competition rules as Tianqi also owns a stake in Albermarle, a direct competitor of SQM.

The court’s president, Gonzalo Garcia, told reporters that the Pampa Group’s challenge had been “declared inadmissible” by a split vote.

The deal potentially gives Tianqi influence over some 70% of the global lithium market, according to some estimates.

Prior to the case, Tianqi had described the constitutional court’s approval of the deal was a mere “formality.”

Full Content: Reuters

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