Nice steps towards that new nickel alliance Wyloo was speaking...

Nice steps towards that new nickel alliance Wyloo was speaking of  

But why did WSA close higher than the IGO bid price?

cheers


https://thewest.com.au/business/mining/igo-forrest-strike-peace-deal-over-western-areas-c-5734925

IGO, Forrest strike peace deal over Western Areas

Stuart McKinnonThe West Australian
Thu, 17 February 2022 2:28PM
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Stuart McKinnon


Andrew Forrest. Credit: DARREN ENGLAND/AAPIMAGE

IGO has struck a peace deal with WA billionaire Andrew Forrest that paves the way for its $1.1 billion takeover of Western Areas to go ahead unimpeded.

Mr Forrest’s Wyloo Metals has agreed to back IGO’s $3.36 friendly bid for Western Areas with the two parties forming a partnership to explore the downstream processing of nickel in WA.

Wyloo had loomed as a potential rival bidder or spoiler for IGO’s bid for Western Areas after lifting its stake in the Dan Lougher-led miner to 9.8 per cent in recent months.

However IGO announced on Thursday Wyloo has agreed to support the scheme of arrangement in the absence of a superior offer.

Wyloo has also agreed to a standstill whereby it would not acquire or dispose of any Western Areas shares ahead of the scheme’s implementation.

Along with Perpetual, IGO said it now had support for its bid from shareholders representing 24.5 per cent of Western Areas’ shares on issue.

Under the terms of the peace deal, IGO and Wyloo will jointly investigate nickel downstream opportunities in WA as part of a two-year study funded on a 70:30 basis respectively.

The parties will then form a joint venture on the same ownership basis to build and operate a nickel downstream processing facility,

IGO managing director Peter Bradford said the company’s agreement with Wyloo to investigate and, if economically feasible, advance development of a downstream nickel processing facility represented a great opportunity to progress Australia’s relevance in the battery metals supply chain.

Wyloo chief executive Luca Giacovazzi said the company looked forward toworking closely with its new strategic partner in IGO to develop an independent, downstream nickel processing facility that could potentially accept feed from any nickel mine in WA.
“By developing additional downstream processing capacity domestically, this partnership will make WA an increasingly relevant jurisdiction in the global battery supply chain,” he said.
“This partnership is aligned with Wyloo Metals’ global strategy of investing in the production of materials required to support the rapid decarbonisation of the global economy.”

The IGO deal follows Wyloo’s success in winning a bidding war against mining giant BHP for control of Noront Resources.
Wyloo landed a knockout blow in December with a $C616 million ($667m) bid for the Canadian company, which holds the Eagle’s Nest nickel project in the Ring of Fire mineral district of Ontario.

IGO shares closed up 2¢ at $12.22 while Western Areas was up 1¢ to $3.48