Rio Tinto expands into lithium market with $6.7 billion acquisition

Rio Tinto is to acquire chemical maker Arcadium Lithium in a $6.7bn (£5.12bn) deal.

The mining multinational announced the all-cash deal this morning and called the acquisition of the global business a “significant step forward”.

It amounts to $5.85 per share and a 90% premium to Arcadium’s closing price of $3.08 per share on October 4, Rio Tinto said.

Arcadium’s capabilities include lithium chemical production and extraction processes, hard rock mining, conventional brine mining and direct lithium mining.

It produces approximately 75,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, with capacity to be doubled by the end of 2028.

Around 2,400 employees are based in Argentina, Australia, Asia and North America Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said: “The acquisition of Arcadium Lithium is a significant step forward in our long-term strategy, creating a lithium business of world class alongside aluminum and copper. operations to supply materials necessary for the energy transition.

“Arcadium Lithium is an outstanding business and we will bring our scale, development capabilities and financial strength to realize the full potential of its Tier 1 portfolio.

“We look forward to building on Arcadium Lithium’s contributions in the countries and communities in which it operates, building on the strong presence we have in these regions.”

And Arcadium Lithium boss Paul Graves said: “We are confident that this is a compelling all-cash offer that reflects full and fair long-term value for our business and de-risks our shareholders’ exposure to the execution of our development portfolio and market volatility . .

“This agreement with Rio Tinto demonstrates the value of what we have built over many years at Arcadium Lithium and our predecessor companies.

“We are excited that this will provide us with the opportunity to accelerate and expand our strategy for the benefit of our customers, employees and the communities in which we operate.”

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of Rio Tinto and Arcadium Lithium and is expected to close in mid-2025, subject to shareholder approval.

After AM city

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