Liontown Resources has secured A$1.14bn ($720m) financing to fully fund the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia to first production and beyond.
The financing will come via a debt financing package, a fully underwritten equity raising, and a conditional placement.
The battery minerals producer is set to get A$760m ($479.74m) in debt financing. For this, it has signed a commitment letter and credit approved term sheet with a syndicate of international and domestic commercial banks and government credit agencies.
Liontown Resources will also execute an equity raise of A$376m ($237.35m).
The equity raise will be through a fully underwritten institutional placement to secure an amount of A$365m ($230.4m) and a non-underwritten conditional placement to Liontown Resources’ chairman Timothy Goyder for six million shares, which is equivalent to A$10.8m ($6.82m).
According to Liontown Resources, qualified existing shareholders can also take part in an unsecured share purchase plan, with the aim of raising an additional A$45m ($28.4m).
The Australian battery minerals company aims to use the funding for the remaining capital costs for the Kathleen Valley lithium project. These include costs for early mine development and building the preproduction run-of-mine (ROM) stockpiles.
Liontown Resources managing director and CEO Tony Ottaviano said: “The execution of this credit approved term sheet and the launch of the equity raise are critical achievements in de-risking the development of the Kathleen Valley Project. These initiatives ensure we are funded to first production and beyond.
“We have assembled a syndicate of lenders that can only be described as high calibre and, following a comprehensive and independent technical review, this syndicate has committed significant funding support to completing our world class Kathleen Valley Project.”
The company also said that the Kathleen Valley lithium project is on track to commence production in mid-2024.
Earlier this week, American speciality chemicals manufacturing company Albemarle terminated its previously announced plans to acquire Liontown Resources for A$6.6bn. Albemarle formally withdrawn its non-binding offer to the Australian firm’s board of directors.
