Rothschild, an agent with a global presence, say those who know the steps of the state-owned company. Moreover, people familiar with the business say that there are already advancedtalks with Lithium Power International and that a due diligence on its assetshas already begun.
See original:
https://www.latercera.com/pulso/noticia/la-negociacion-a-dos-bandas-de-codelco-para-ingresar-al-negocio-del-litio/PSLOHB6IQBDCRFSSWAKLP4647Y/
Víctor Cofré23 sep 2023 11:55 PM
Partial translated with deepl.com -- >> : The Maricunga salt flat has an area of 14,000 hectares, much smaller than the 280,000 hectares of the Atacama salt flat. Codelco has properties of about 2,500 hectares, Simco almost 1,000 and Salar Blanco, 2,541 hectares, with almost half of them prior to 1979. But the latter has the most advanced path: it has an approved Environmental Qualification Resolution (RCA), a procedure that can delay a mining project for several years. And its properties adjoin those of Codelco. An alliance there seems more than reasonable.
For this business, Codelco recently made a key decision: to hire an investment bank to advise on the negotiations. The chosen one was Rothschild, an agent with a global presence, say those who know the steps of the state-owned company. Moreover, people familiar with the business say that there are already advanced talks with Lithium Power International and that a due diligence on its assets has already begun.
What is Lithium Power International ?
A junior company listed in Australia whose main asset is the Salar Blanco project. This year it sold another project, its subsidiary Western Lithium, in Australia for some US$ 20 million (30 million Australian dollars) to the U.S. company Albemarle. And it was left alone with Salar Blanco. "This sale frees up funds for the upcoming development of the Maricunga lithium project," the firm said in July.In its diluted ownership, a Chilean has the largest shareholding: Martín Borda, businessman, also shareholder of the salmon company Multiexport. After a consolidation of ownership with Salar Blanco, Borda was left with 31% of Lithium Power International in 2022. In its optimistic presentations to investors, Lithium Power claims that the net present value of Salar Blanco was US$ 1.4 billion. But that is with the project already executed: it has already invested US$ 70 million and the construction of a project for 20,000 tons of lithium carbonate per year requires another US$ 626 million. The surprising value that Lithium Power assigns to its project, however, does not match its stock market valuation: the company has a capitalization of close to US$ 100 million (147 million Australian dollars, according to its website).
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