(Bloomberg) — Australia’s richest woman has amassed a stake in Lionstown Resources Ltd., the A$6.6 billion ($4.3 billion) takeover of lithium producer Albemarle Corp., and has signaled she could push for a board seat.
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Billionaire iron ore miner Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd said on Tuesday it has bought a 7.72 percent stake in Leontone and said it believes it will help lead the company’s metals transformation and growth. Shares in the Australian lithium miner have been trading flat since Thursday, above $3 a share, beating Albemarle’s four-week streak.
In a statement, Hancock told Lyons Town it would “provide the opportunity to utilize Hancock’s expertise where appropriate to support the development and ongoing operations of the project.”
“Hancock, along with other Lionstown shareholders, can contribute to the future direction of Lionstown,” he added, “with respect to investment opportunities that can add value downstream in Western Australia.”
The words signal fears that the world’s biggest producer of the trendy industrial steel could upset plans to downsize. Perth-based Liontown owns some of Australia’s most promising primary lithium projects and has signed supply deals with major automakers to work with Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc and Ford Motor Co.
The project “is a high-quality hard-rock lithium deposit in its development stage, which still has a number of significant risks, including resource conversion, construction performance and metal recovery, with modest potential for production,” Hancock said.
Albemarle has been given due diligence after raising its cash offering by 20% and raising the final proposal, Leontone said on September 4, 2010. Shares in the Australian miner jumped 8.8 percent in Sydney.
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