China’s largest battery company CATL has agreed to pay A$55m for an 8.5 per cent stake in Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals, in a vote of confidence for a sector that has struggled with falling prices for the battery raw material.
Ningde-based CATL, which is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange, will pay A$0.30 a share for 183.3m newly issued shares in the company, a 14 per cent discount to the stock’s closing price on Wednesday.
The fundraising comes following a brutal year for the lithium sector, which has been hit by a 17 per cent fall in the price of its main product, lithium carbonate, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.